UK farm ministry orders Intervet bird flu vaccine

LONDON, Sep 29 (Reuters) Britain's farm ministry today said it has ordered 10 million doses of vaccine to protect poultry against bird flu, from Akzo Nobel unit Intervet.

The ministry said the order followed a tendering process it announced in July. The vaccine can be used against both the H5 and H7 strains of the virus.

The vaccine can be used in poultry and other captive birds.

The ministry said five million doses had already been manufactured at Intervet's production facility in Spain and are expected to arrive in the UK within the next 3 weeks.

The remaining five million doses will take a further 13 weeks to manufacture, it added.

Earlier this year, the ministry ordered 2.3 million doses of vaccine for possible preventive vaccination of zoo birds.

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