Three Rules of Vaccination

The Three Rules of Vaccination

Bryan Hicks, DVM

Being both a veterinarian and a Charolais breeder, I am asked regularly what vaccination program I use on my own cows. It is the same program I recommend to all my clients. I use a killed vaccine program, namely Triangle 9 (not that I am promoting a specific product). I vaccinate in the fall with Triangle 9 and a scour vaccine. I vaccinate again with Triangle 9 in the spring prior to turn out. The leptospirosis component of the vaccine will protect against abortion while on pasture. I have three rules for vaccinating.

Rule #1: Vaccinate with something because anything is better than nothing. Independent research studies indicate that a combination of modified live vaccine (MLV) and killed vaccine given three times gives the optimal protection. But disease protection only needs to be adequate and you will never see any difference in health issues between adequate and optimal. When calves where coming to town unvaccinated and neither they nor their mothers had any immune status, then the MLV stimulated a strong enough response to protect the calf with one dose – even though a second was recommended. But those days of animals with zero exposure and immunity are gone - especially if you have a vaccination history. All animals have some level of immunity and any vaccine will elicit an adequate immune response.

Rule #2: Vaccinate with something because anything is better than nothing. MLV vaccines should be given prior to breeding. But sometimes life gets in the way and a birth, death, wedding or special person gets between you and your program. In contrast, killed vaccines may be given at any time to any animal without any unfavourable response. I am long enough in the tooth to remember using MLV vaccines to abort feedlot heifers in the early days of vaccination. These vaccines contained the same agents used in MLV vaccines today. I talk to people who missed vaccinating on time and then quit because they had missed some animals. I talk to people who thought they had vaccinated with a MLV vaccine, or thought their employees had. They found out later that they had a huge problem with abortions because no one had vaccinated. I talk to people that have several abortions after vaccinating who wonder “if the vaccine runs down the neck after needling does it still work?”. Yes, I talk to a lot of people. I also listen to them. I maintain that the risks of MLV vaccines do not outweigh the perceived benefits. If you

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