Cow-calf vaccinations – when it comes to immunology what makes sense and what doesn’t

Abstract

Vaccination is an important component for the prevention and control of disease in cattle. However, too often vaccines are viewed as a catch all solution for management and nutrition er­rors; the “best” vaccine can never overcome these deficiencies. Proper vaccination in the young and developing heifer is the key to long term development of that animal as a reproductive unit in the herd. Modified live vaccines (MLV) have been used because of the good antibody response, longer duration of im­munity, fewer doses needed per animal and lower cost. Howev­er, non-adjuvanted MLV vaccines fail to booster well vaccinated animals as active vaccine induced immunity neutralizes vac­cine virus preventing the MLV from replicating and preventing a booster immune response. Improved adjuvants have increased the scope and duration of both MLV and inactivated virus immu­nity. Each vaccine program needs to be based designed based on animal flow, actual “disease” threats and labor on the farm.