 Four batches of the vaccine are being recalled |
Thousands of doses of rabies vaccine are being recalled after a live strain of the virus was found in one batch during factory tests. Manufacturers Aventis Pasteur MSD said the move was precautionary and that there was little risk to patients.
More than 20 countries are affected by the recall.
The UK's Department of Health has advised patients who recently received the jab to contact their doctor for medical advice.
A total of four batches are being recalled. One of these was distributed in the UK. It contained 6,700 doses of rabies vaccine.
The company said all of the jabs had passed factory and independent tests before they had been distributed.
Jonathan Van-Tam, medical director of Aventis Pasteur MSD in the UK, said there was no risk to patients.
"The non-inactivated vaccine never left the factory. "What is being recalled is the batches produced at the same time at the same facility and all of those batches passed the testing performed by the company and external tests by independent labs.
"This is purely a precautionary measure consistent with company policy."
Dr Van-Tam said anyone who had received the doses in question would go on to receive a five-dose treatment of the vaccine, rather that three, which is what someone who had been exposed to the virus would normally be given.
The live strain found in the tests was the Pittman-Moore strain of the rabies virus.
This is a safer laboratory strain used in vaccines and is not as dangerous as the wild rabies virus.
An Aventis Pasteur MSD spokeswoman said: "Purchasers and distributors of vaccines from the recall batch distributed between February 27 and April 1 have been informed of the situation.
"The relevant healthcare professionals have also been advised how to proceed if doses have already been administered."
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This is purely a precautionary measure 