New needle-free vaccinations for sheep and goats

A new needle-free injection system, which uses pneumatic technology and thereby reduces animal handling and stress during the administering of vaccinations to sheep and goats, has been tested in the US.

According to a statement by AgriLife Research, using a pneumatic gun to administer vaccines, the tests showed that it took fewer than 20 minutes to vaccinate 200 ewes, a process that would traditionally take hours using a needle system.

The new needle-free injection system was a quick, low-stress way of vaccinating sheep, AgriLife Extension associate Jake Thorne said.

He added that the pneumatic vaccination gun used was powered by carbon dioxide and “dispenses the vaccine through the animal’s skin through a tiny hole seven times smaller than what is made by an 18-gauge needle. The gun has adjustable pressure, so it can be altered for use on lambs or adult [animals], as well as for other species”.

The pneumatic gun can be used to prevent the spread of ovine progressive pneumonia, caseous lymphadenitis, and other infectious diseases, he said.

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