Leverkusen, April 30, 2008 – Vector-borne diseases, especially those affecting dogs (CVBD, canine vector-borne diseases), are an increasing global threat. Transmitted by blood-feeding parasites like ticks, fleas, mosquitoes or sand flies, diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, babesiosis or leishmaniosis are known to veterinarians throughout the world. This also accounts for the zoonotic consequences.

However, the world of parasitic vectors and CVBD changes rapidly as a consequence of increased mobility of dogs, climate change, protection of biotopes, and other reasons. Parasites and CVBD-related pathogens increase their geographical spread and make it difficult for the veterinarian to keep pace regarding knowledge about CVBD risks, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. www.cvbd.org is dedicated to providing the veterinary practitioner with cutting-edge and clinically relevant scientific information on CVBD.

The new website does not only give information about disease-transmitting parasites and the respective infectious diseases of the dog, it also includes special tools and services: Using the interactive “CVBD Occurrence Map”, the veterinarian can easily find out the distribution of a certain disease within Europe or get a complete picture of all relevant CVBD in a certain European country. This helps to inform the dog owner e.g. about travel risks. Moreover, each veterinarian can contribute information about the current local situation regarding CVBD by filling in an online questionnaire (CVBD Monitor). For those veterinarians, who have never seen a typical case of ehrlichiosis or leishmaniosis before, clinical cases are presented in detail as a video with accompanying written text.

Major input to this website comes from the CVBD World Forum, a working group of leading international experts in the field of veterinary parasitology. This group meets at least once a year at the International CVBD Symposium to discuss current scientific findings as well as future trends and needs concerning the distribution, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis and prevention of canine vector-borne diseases.

The CVBD World Forum and www.cvbd.org are supported by Bayer HealthCare, Animal Health Division, a specialist in the field of parasite prevention. “We find that every veterinary practitioner should know about the locally relevant canine vector-borne diseases, make dog owners aware of the risks of infection and educate them on appropriate preventative measures”, says Dr. Norbert Mencke, Director of Global Veterinary Services at Bayer HealthCare, Animal Health Division.

About the CVBD World Forum

The CVBD World Forum is a working group of leading experts in natural sciences, veterinary and human medicine from Europe, North America, Australia and Asia. It was founded during the 1st International CVBD Symposium in April 2006 in Billesley, UK, as a consequence of the increasing global threats through canine vector-borne diseases (CVBD). The main goal of the CVBD World Forum is to exchange knowledge and findings about ectoparasite-pathogen-host interaction as well as the characterisation and assessment of pathogens’ and vectors’ distribution in order to increase awareness for the specific regional risks of CVBD and to foster preventative measures. This work is supported by Bayer HealthCare, Animal Health Division.

About Bayer HealthCare

Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry. The company combines the activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care, and Pharmaceuticals divisions. The company’s pharmaceuticals business operates under the name Bayer Schering Pharma AG. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover, develop, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide.

With sales of EUR 956 million (2007), the Animal Health Division is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of veterinary drugs. The division produces and markets more than 100 different veterinary drugs and care products for livestock and companion animals.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our annual and interim reports to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to confirm them to future events or developments.

 

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