The VMD has issued guidance to help animal keepers access safe sources.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has warned animal keepers against buying, selling, or swapping leftover bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) vaccines on social media and online marketplaces.
The alert follows reports of enforcement officers detecting illegal vaccine trades on social platforms. Regulators warned that trading surplus vaccine outside authorised supply chains poses severe risks to animal health, as there is no guarantee that it has been stored, handled or transported correctly
The VMD writes: ‘BTV-3 vaccines are prescription-only veterinary medicines and are subject to strict legal controls. Animal owners cannot legally supply a veterinary medicine to another animal owner, even if that medicine has been prescribed by a veterinary surgeon for the recipient.
‘Animal keepers have been taking action to vaccinate their animals against BTV-3 and we encourage keepers to continue to do this. We want to ensure you have access to vaccines that are effective and safe.’
Guidance to help keepers access safe and legal sources of BTV-3 is available on gov.uk
Image (C) Parilov/Shutterstock.com
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
