Australia has run out of Q-vax, the vaccine against Q fever, and new supplies are not expected until early January, according to the supplier, CSL Seqirus. New staff on cattle properties and in meat processing plants will need special protection from the disease in the meantime, Beef Central reports.
The shortage matters for hiring because all production staff in AusMeat-accredited meat processing plants in Australia must be screened or vaccinated against Q fever before they start work. The Australian Meat Industry Council has warned its members to plan for the possibility that the expected dates are not met or are pushed back.
Testing for existing immunity is also on hold. The Q-vax skin test is still available, but vaccination clinics have been told not to give it or run Q fever pre-screening clinics until vaccine is available, because the skin test has to be done seven days before the planned vaccination. CSL Seqirus has given no advice about staff who have already been tested; its spokesman Hamish Walsh said testing was a question for doctors and health authorities.
Q-vax is made from purified, inactivated Coxiella burnetii, the bacterium that causes Q fever. Seqirus said growing the bacteria under controlled conditions is complex and that batches can vary biologically in ways that delay their release. "Q fever vaccines are a complex biological product manufactured under strict bio-containment conditions. Small manufacturing delays can have a large flow-on effect," Walsh said, adding that manufacturing can take many months from start to finish.
Photo: National Institutes of Health / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Beef Central
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