Vaccination

Modified-live versus killed vaccines: What are the differences?

richard.linhart@vaxxinova.com — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Cattle vaccines are generally available in one of two different forms, either modified-live or attenuated products, or killed or inactivated products. Each type of vaccine has its unique properties, advantages and disadvantages, and its place in a herd health program.

Is salmonella present on your dairy?

angie.rowson@vaxxinova.com — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Cows infected with salmonella can shed organisms in their manure, colostrum, saliva, milk and vaginal and nasal secretions. The disease is commonly spread from one cow to another when she consumes the manure of an animal that is shedding the bacteria. Cows usually ingest this infected manure in their feed or water.

Preventing vaccine failures

christopher.chase@sdstate.edu — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Most “vaccine failures” are not due to the vaccine itself but to the animal’s immune system not being ready – often due to poor timing. The immune system’s job isn’t to prevent disease but to maintain health, which requires appropriate management, sound nutrition, low stress, biosecurity and a well-planned vaccine program.

Immunity: More than a vaccine

louderdvm@gmail.com — Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

While vaccines contribute greatly to a cow’s immune system, there are other aspects of the immune system that should not be forgotten. Ensuring that essential elements such as trace minerals are provided, allows for the cow’s entire immune system to be ready to fight off an invasion, not just relying on the special forces.

When pinkeye vaccines fail

jason.shumaker@vaxxinova.com — Mon, 05 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Pinkeye in cattle presents a significant challenge for producers, impacting animal performance and requiring costly and time-consuming treatments. Vaccination against pinkeye is crucial in a producer's prevention strategy, alongside effective fly, weed and dust control with appropriate trace mineral supplementation.

Vaccine-adverse reactions: How to minimize the lumps and bumps

richard.linhart@vaxxinova.com — Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Vaccine products that are administered to cattle are foreign to the animal’s body. The goal is for the body to recognize these foreign organisms and develop an immune response for protection in the event of a future disease challenge.

Vaccination protocols: Maximizing vaccine efficacy

louderdvm@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The immune system is the body’s military. It is tasked with being able to recognize pathogenic invaders that have entered the body and eliminate them as quickly as possible.

A guide to get the best ROI from calf vaccination

jonathan.townsend@merck.com — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Understanding the fundamentals of vaccination helps optimize the return on your vaccine investments and ensure calves are prepared for the challenges they’ll face.

BRD prevention in dairy calves starts with dry cow management

david.prentice@elancoah.com — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Managing bovine respiratory disease (BRD) can sometimes feel like a game of whack-a-mole for dairy producers. Many stressors can pop up with little to no advanced warning early in a calf’s life, putting them at greater risk for developing BRD.

Animal agriculture awaits ‘normal accidents’ when it comes to biosecurity

julie.m.smith@uvm.edu — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 07:28:58 -0400

John Law published a paper in 2006 in the journal Environment and Planning about the situation “developed” countries of the world find themselves in. They are precariously vulnerable to an incursion of a fast-moving animal disease that exists elsewhere in the world.

Scours: Preventing a Big Risk for Little Calves

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The first 60 days are essential to calf growth. Calves are the most feed efficient during this time, so don’t let scours make a mess of their potential.

Do You Know About Mycoplasma bovis?

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:36:51 -0400

Most producers know that calfhood pneumonia, or bovine respiratory disease (BRD), is one of the leading health concerns impacting calves on even the best-managed dairies. The disease challenges young calves face when they are most vulnerable can have lifelong productivity and profitability implications.

How vaccines can keep up with changing bacteria

scott.smith@elancoah.com — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 15:12:04 -0400

Over the past several decades, much has changed in the dairy industry and how we manage cattle. As herds get bigger and more complex, we tend to manage groups of cows rather than individuals.

Debunking core-antigen vaccine myths

john.champagne@merck.com — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 19:16:08 -0400

A basic understanding of why core-antigen vaccines are an effective tool during the dry period can help clear up common myths surrounding their usage.

Optimal immunization of your dairy herd: More than just vaccination

elizabeth.dore@zoetis.com — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 13:00:01 -0400

We often take vaccination for granted and think it’s just something we have to do, but we don’t necessarily stop to think about what we are trying to achieve. By vaccinating your cows, you want to keep your herd healthy by preventing some infectious diseases, as well as ensuring productivity and profitability.

Drug and vaccine storage: Protect your investment

emmanuel@uga.edu — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 18:26:50 -0400

Pharmaceutical products (vaccines, antimicrobials, other injectable or oral drugs, fly control products, dewormers, intramammary tubes, teat dips, etc.) represent a large investment that helps decrease incidence of disease, mitigate the severity of disease, and improve animal health and productivity.

Understanding vaccines

wweiland@standardnutrition.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 22:34:03 -0500

The COVID-19 pandemic brought into focus what can happen when a population is exposed to a pathogen – in this case, a virus – that has never been seen by that population before.

Intranasal and injectable respiratory vaccines: There’s a time and place for both of them

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 20:56:44 -0400

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is still a major cause of sickness and death in young beef and dairy calves. While vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to prevent losses associated with BRD, it’s often assumed that intranasal vaccines are the best approach in younger calves. However, recent research shows that previous perceptions about injectable respiratory vaccines may not be accurate, and that both types of vaccines have a place in BRD prevention.

‘Staph’ meeting: A different approach to combating mastitis?

reynolds@whminer.com — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 14:00:01 -0500

The numbers don’t lie – mastitis infections in dairy herds are one of the most financially detrimental occurrences that a producer can face. With an estimated $2 billion in losses each year in the U.S. and $400 million in Canada, more preventative and sustainable measures to alleviate mastitis infections are sorely needed.

Moving animal health innovations forward is a balancing act

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 18:19:57 -0400

The changing animal health field presents both challenges and opportunities for producers and those who serve them. While companies are in the process of bringing new technologies forward to improve dairy herd health, they are also thoroughly researching and monitoring potential health threats.

To seal or not to seal?

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 07:01:00 -0500

Mastitis has a large economic impact on a dairy producer’s bottom line. Research indicates the direct and indirect costs, which include veterinary, discarded milk, extra labor, cow mortality, repeat cases and milk losses, amount to $1.7 - $2 billion per year.¹ Preventive protocols are the best option to curb 50-60% of all new cases that occur during the dry period.² Dry cow antibiotic therapy has been the most widely used method until recently. With the movement to reduce antibiotic use and regulations preventing organic dairy farms to use dry cow antibiotic therapy, teat sealants have been added to protocols or even used exclusively.

Producers in the Netherlands learn from new developments in mastitis research

karen@agproud.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 14:00:01 -0500

As the pressure to use fewer antibiotics continues to grow, animal agriculture needs to be inventive and find different solutions to treat animals or keep livestock healthy from the start.