bryonic death and abortions. BVD vaccine should start on
the farm with two shots usually three to four weeks apart in
the heifer or calf lot. BVD may be given in combination with
other vaccines, but it is important that animals being given
BVD vaccines, are not stressed from other management
procedures. Two shots are usually important to develop sus
tained immunity. BVD vaccines should be boosted yearly.
2. IBR (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis) is a virus that
can cause respiratory disease and has been associated with
early embryonic death. Usually it is given with BVD.
3. BRSV (Bovine Respiratory Synsytial Virus) is a cause
of respiratory disease. Two shots of this vaccine three to
four weeks apart are a must. Even if the manufacturer
states one shot of BVD and IBR is sufficient, the BRSV
almost always needs boosted. In those cases I advocate
boosting BVD, IBR and BRSV at the same time.
4. Lepto abortion storms can be very devastating to the
reproductive status of a herd. Lepto abortion usually occurs
during the last third of pregnancy. Immunity from Lepto
vaccine wanes in less than a year. Vaccination protocols
vary with exposure rates with some veterinarians recom
mending vaccinating with a five-way vaccine as often as
quarterly. Most farms do well with one dose of five-way
Lepto given to cattle after they are pronounced pregnant.
This assumes they received a primary and secondary
booster as heifers. We often associate wildlife as vectors for
the Lepto germ, thus indicating spring vaccination might
prevent the disease when cattle are exposed to the deer pop
ulation. However, often we have found that cattle contract
Lepto in the winter when they are exposed to the germ that
is spread by rodents in the haystack.
5. Blackleg, malignant edema, and other clostridial dis
eases can be deadly and should be vaccinated against on an
individual farm need.
6. E. coli mastitis is an important cause of the loss of life
and milk production and its severity can be reduced with
the “core antigen” products J-Vac and J-S.
7. Neospora vaccine is available to prevent Neospora
abortion. This vaccine was conditionally released and is still
experimental. However, if you have documented Neospora
abortions on your farm, you don’t have any other vaccina
tion alternatives to help in reducing this disease.
8. Pinkeye vaccines are used on many farms and in many
situations appear to reduce disease incidence.
9. Staph vaccine is used to help reduce Staph aureus mas
titis. While it may help, vaccination should not be used as
the primary defence against this disease.
10. Brucellosis vaccine is still used to prevent this dreaded
disease, but is more commonly used to enhance livestock
value. Some states require brucellosis vaccination before
cattle can be imported into their state.
How and when we vaccinate can be more
important than the vaccines we use.
1. Do not vaccinate stressed cattle. Cattle that have been
trucked three hundred miles are not likely to respond to
vaccines. Weaned calves respond poorly to vaccines, thus
vaccinating a few weeks prior to weaning gives good immu
nity. Dairy cows, from a few days prior to calving up to a
week or more after calving, have high cortisone levels and
respond poorly to vaccinations given on calving day.
2. Limit exposure to vaccines containing endotoxins.
Some vaccines such as Hemophilus are notorious for con
taining endotoxins. Don’t give combination vaccines with
Hemophilus in them along with other vaccines containing
gram negative bacterins. You are liable not to stimulate any
protection at ail but just frustrate the immune system. A
good rule of thumb is not to give more than two gram nega
tive vaccines to dairy breeds at a time or more than three
gram negative vaccines to beef breeds at a time. Gram nega
tive vaccines include Lepto 5 complex, clostridial disease
complex, J-Vac or J-S vaccine, Pasteurella and other E. coli
vaccines in combination with rota and corona virus.
3. Time of day vaccines are given can affect response to
vaccines. Studies show vaccines given in the cool morning
hours elicit more of a response than vaccines given in the
hottest time of the day.
4. Vaccines should always be refrigerated even when
hauled out to the treatment area and clean syringes and
needles should be used. Never mix two vaccines in the same
syringes. The old thought, “It’s all going to the same place”
does not apply.
All vaccines are not created equal. Just because two dif
ferent vaccines list the names of the same eight diseases does
not mean they have been tested and researched to the same
extent. A few years ago two products were available to pro
tect against the same disease. One drug company advertised
research involving over a thousand cows. I asked the com
pany representative of the second company for a copy of the
efficacy trials before I would purchase his product. It turned
out the product had been tested on 13 cows. Obviously I had
more confidence in the first product.
Vaccine manufacturers’ advertisements can be deceptive.
One company advertised that its product protected against
agents (BVD and IBR) that cause abortion and early em
bryonic deaths in cattle. Another company actually had
data where they vaccinated cattle that previously had no
titers to BVD and left a group of controls unvaccinated.
Later both groups were bred and all cattle were exposed to
BVD virus. Many of the non-vaccinates aborted but none of
the vaccinated cattle aborted. I felt the second company ac
tually had legitimate bragging rights.
Armed with the data from the second company I ap
proached the head of technical service of the first company
and asked if they had ran studies to see if the fetuses were
actually protected by their vaccines. After some philoso
phizing he explained that such studies were very difficult
and expensive and that they had actually not done any of
those studies. I always go with the product with the most
testing behind it.
While vaccinating against diseases is a very important
practice, you should remember that even the best of vacci
nation protocols can be over-ridden by poor management.
Vaccination protocols need to be customized for each opera
tion. Sometimes too much is as bad as not enough. Your
herd veterinarian should be consulted in designing a proto
col that is right for you.