Major pharmaceutical supplier Merck has announced it will no longer be producing vaccines for the fur industry. The company had previously conducted its mink research at a facility west of Omaha. This leaves only one vaccine supplier remaining, and it is a significant one: United Vaccines in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. There is some evidence United Vaccines operates an additional research facility in neighboring Verona. Vaccines can be the difference between a thriving fur farm and a bankrupt one, and this company is considered very significant in the sustenance of the US fur industry. United Vaccines 2919 Commerce Park Dr Fitchburg, WI...

Coalition Against Fur Farms obtains new issue internal fur industry newsletter Fur Farm Letter CAFF has obtained copies of the Fur Farm Letter, published by the Fur Commission USA. We will be publishing numerous excerpts from the newsletters over the coming weeks. For now, we are posting this article by mink veterinarian John Easley. We chose this article as the first to be released because it is very relevant to previous posts this week regarding information CAFF is uncovering about mink vaccine research. Several important things are gleamed from this article: *The fact that the Fur Commission USA lobbied for this meeting with Merck further emphasizes how significant it’s vaccine is. *The research facility outside Omaha (see posts from earlier this week) is” Merck Animal Health’s main research and development and production facility for the majority of their vaccines that they distribute worldwide”. *Quote: “The Merck representatives continually reinforced that the mink vaccine production is very important to them.” *Quote: “Merck  has only has one source for their test animals”. As covered in a post earlier this week, this is likely to be Steve Krage / Circle K Farms in Sioux City, Iowa (near Omaha). *There is a vaccine shortage, which is of concern to US fur farmers. *Notice this quote: “Merck has done a lot of work investigating why they are having the problem and have made changes with the way they manage their test mink population at the farm and in the lab”. This indicates the mink research is being done in an experimental farm setting. It is not known if this is on-site, at the Sioux City farm, or elsewhere. *United Vaccines in Wisconsin “hopes” to have a “4-way vaccine available for the North American market in about 18 months.” Here is the article, in full: Fur Commission meets with Merck Vaccine Producers Fur Farm Letter, Spring 2012 By Dr. John Easley DVM, Fur Commission USA Director of Research After attempting to arrange a meeting for months, this February we were able to organize a meeting with Merck Animal Health for mink industry representatives. Kate Roesler, FCUSA Board Member from the state of Washington representing the US producers, Peter Peters from...