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The Benefits

The Benefits

THE BENEFITS OF GERM FREE OVER TRADITIONAL SPF

Conventional and SPF eggs have inherent disadvantages

  1. They carry bacterial contamination, outside and inside the shell (10 to 20% of eggs carry internal contamination)
  2. Failure results in entire batches of vaccines being destroyed, delaying vaccine release to market and costing millions of euro per annum
  3. One contaminated egg ruins an entire batch
  4. Potential contamination of Master / Working Viral Seeds
  5. Invalid biosafety tests for adventitious / extraneous agents

SPF flocks are susceptible to infectious disease / loss of SPF status, resulting in lack of continuity of egg supply

GERM FREE EGGS FROM OVAGEN PROVIDE THE SOLUTION

  • Completely free of bacteria
  • Loss of Germ Free status detected before sending to customer (unlike conventional SPF eggs)
  • Compliant with GMP standards

CriteriaSPFGerm Free
Susceptible to internal bacterial contaminationYes
(Typically 10% of eggs)
No
Risk of vaccine batch loss associated with contaminationYes
(Up to 20% of batches)
No
Financial RationalePoorCompelling
(ROI > 100%)
Bio-SecurityMediumHigh
Susceptible to disease epidemics (e.g. Avian Influenza)YesNo
Delay in identifying loss of SPF/Regulatory Compliant statusYesNo
GMP CompliantNoYes
Suitability for high value, specialist use (Master Viral Seeds, PCC etc)LowHigh

Germ Free eggs are microbiologically sterile – there are no bacterial contaminants of any species present.

Freedom of Germ Free eggs from bacteria is monitored on a daily basis and is an essential QC criterion before release of Germ Free eggs to customers. This Germ Free screening gives a rapid result of presence or absence of bacteria which is a major advantage over SPF eggs, where it takes weeks to get complete bacteriology results.

Viral Yield Advantage:  Low interferon levels in Germ Free eggs is expected to increase viral yield per egg.  This will have positive implications for productivity, reduced cost of vaccines and enhanced availability.

Other Advantages include:

  • Superior Shell Quality
  • Excellent egg fertility rates
  • Delivered in our especially designed bespoke temperature controlled packaging to preserve the integrity of our Germ Free eggs.