Vaccination for Calf Pneumonia Prevention

BY: DR. TANYA ANDERSON

Earlier this month, I saw a report that poliovirus had been reported in a wastewater system in the northeastern USA. I had mistakenly believed that polio had been eradicated by the widespread use of the polio vaccine fi rst invented by Dr. Salk in 1955. In 1994, polio was considered eliminated in both North and South kids get primer vaccines at 2,4,6, 12 and 18 months of age, our calves should be vaccinated at 6-8 weeks of age and then pre-weaning with additional vaccines given throughout the development period post-weaning depending on management plans - for grassing, breeding or backgrounding/fi nishing.

Remember that the calf environment also plays a big part of disease management. Winter cows separately your geographical location, facilities may range from open range to more intensive operations - none are right or wrong, but each must be well-suited to the operation. Th ink of your cow/calf operation as one part of the big picture. Do your part to keep your herd healthy and protected from disease so that your calves are ready to enter the next production stage in the feedlot or breeding herd. Reduce your reliance on drugs and remember

Disease prevention starts before birth. Implement a four-way viral vaccination of your cowherd to enhance colostral immunity and to prevent reproductive disease from both IBR and BVD.

America. Today, only two countries remain polio-endemic, Afghanistan and Pakistan. And, within the last 30 years, the only polio cases in Canada were non-vaccinated residents who had contact with polio-infected visitors from another country.

I write about polio because it is an example of a preventable disease that is now resurfacing due to a personal choice to not get vaccinated. While most people that get infected will show no symptoms, 1 in 4 will show flu-like symptoms and a small proportion will develop the symptoms that we associate with polio - meningitis and paralysis. Symptom severity varies with the strain of virus. Is the choice one makes due to risk management - low odds of developing severe debilitating disease versus the even lower odds of having an adverse vaccine reaction? What if we needed to pay for our care of a “preventable” disease for which we chose not to protect ourselves?

Is the choice to not vaccinate your cattle herd due to perceived risk management? I believe it is for many. The decision to vaccinate or not is driven by a balance of labor availability, facilities, and projected return on investment. Why is it that many blackleg outbreaks happen to those that have had previous blackleg outbreaks? The vaccine is not cost-prohibitive, but facilities and lack of help or time are often cited as the excuse as the realization of lost income sets in. A gamble gone wrong.

Pneumonia in young calves is the same but a much riskier gamble - nearly guaranteed to happen but just when it will happen and what the impact to your pocketbook will be is the unknown - pre-turnout, on pasture or post-weaning? BRD (Bovine Respiratory Disease) is the leading cause of death for nursing beef calves older than three days of age. The causes are both viral (IBR, PI3, BRSV, BVD) and bacterial (M. hemolytica, P. multocida, H. somnus). A 2020 study determined the average immediate cost of treating pneumonia in young calves was $42.15. Additionally, further losses occur with reduced feed efficiency and ADG in the feedlot or decreased reproductive performance and lifetime milk production in the breeding herd. Heifers that develop pneumonia in their fi rst year of life are at a much higher risk of developing pneumonia as a mature cow. Calves that do not get enough colostral immunity are 12.5 times more likely to die in the feedlot.

Disease prevention starts before birth. Implement a four-way viral vaccination of your cowherd to enhance colostral immunity and to prevent reproductive disease from both IBR and BVD. Maintain your cowherd in an ideal body condition (3.5/5) and ensure your ration is balanced - TDN of 60% and protein of 9% for late gestation and then bumped to 65% and 11% respectively post-calving. And don’t forget about vitamin and mineral supplementation. Th in and overweight cows cannot produce the volume or quality of colostrum as compared to a cow in ideal body condition. Under and over-conditioned cows are also at higher risk for infertility, calving difficulty and mismothering.

Ensure calves receive colostrum ASAP after birth. A minimum of 2L within the fi rst few hours and a repeat feeding four to six hours later. Supplement calves that have had a difficult birth and provide pain medication to “get them going.”

If you are having pneumonia issues in your calves pre-weaning, implement a calf hood vaccine program starting at birth. Intra-nasal vaccines are available to enhance immunity in the face of colostral interference - discuss with your veterinarian which options are best suited to your situation. Colostral immunity starts to wear off by 8 weeks of age depending on the disease organism so vaccination should be done pre-pasture turnout. Th ink of this vaccine as a primer for the vaccines given upon arrival in the feedlot, just as your from the calving grounds and ensure adequate bedding and shelter from the elements so that calves keep clean and stay dry and warm. Depending on the season and that disease management involves a combination of nutrition, environmental management and vaccination. Omit one part and everything else falls apart.