Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the vaccine for Strangles in equines to protect them from disease.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) regulates Veterinary Medicinal Products (VMPs) and assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry to authorise and make available good quality, safe and efficacious VMPs, including veterinary vaccines. There are currently two veterinary vaccines authorised in Great Britain and Northern Ireland which include claims against Streptococcus equi which can cause strangles in horses. Current information about veterinary medicines authorised in Great Britain and Northern Ireland including these equine vaccines can be found on the Product Information Database on GOV.UK (www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInformationDatabase/).

Alternatively, where a suitable veterinary vaccine authorised in the UK is not available to treat a disease, a veterinary surgeon may apply to the VMD for a special import certificate, which allows the use of a veterinary vaccine authorised elsewhere in the world. These applications are subject to a risk assessment by the VMD.