Russia's top-selling dog vaccine linked to spate of pet deaths across the country

Russia has ordered a batch of one of its most widely used dog vaccines destroyed after finding a live virus in some of its samples, confirming a link to deaths reported across the country since August. Russia's veterinary and agricultural inspection agency Rosselkhoznadzor said batch 20 of the Multican-8 vaccine, produced by Moscow-based Vetbiokhim, contained a live Aujeszky's disease virus — a usually fatal illness affecting dogs with no specific treatment. The regulator ordered the batch withdrawn from circulation and destroyed. Batch 20 contained 60,000 doses, according to independent Russian outlet Meduza.