Vaccine Study Shows Vaccines Do Not Prevent Disease

The use of vaccines on animals is common throughout the world yet efficacy in disease prevention is scant. A new study shows that vaccines used by commercial fish farmers are not protecting fish from disease.

The study was compiled by researchers at the University of Waterloo, the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso and Chile’s University of Valparaiso. It showed vaccinated fish tend to show more symptoms when contracting diseases, with the health impacts and ultimately deaths occurring as if they’d never received a vaccine.

“Today’s vaccines are marketed to fish farms as necessary disease prevention and are even required by some insurance companies, but they are not nearly as effective as needed under real world conditions.” said Brian Dixon, a professor in biology at Waterloo. “Some operators are giving five vaccinations per fish and then there are fish losses from the stress of receiving multiple handlings and injections.”