Sarah Southard, DVM
Pets and Livestock
Vaccinating livestock is one of the most cost-effective methods of protecting the investment producers have made in their breeding herds and flocks. It is also one of only a few ways to protect the future productivity of the animals. An appropriately planned and implemented vaccination program will add far more to a producer’s bottom line than it will ever deduct.
Respiratory disease is a major source of morbidity, mortality, and decreased production in cattle, sheep, and goats. Various viruses and bacteria can cause pneumonia, leading to short-term illness as well as permanent lung damage. Both the short-term and long-term effects of pneumonia result in costly production losses. Decreased weight gain, weight loss, poor reproductive performance, and poor milk production are some of the indirect costs of illness that add to the direct monetary losses resulting from medication and labor costs required to treat sick animals.
Other major losses can come as a result of infections that cause abortions. Leptospirosis, chlamydiosis, and campylobacteriosis are just three of the many abortion-causing diseases that can affect livestock. When a production animal loses a pregnancy, the costs that must be accounted for include the lost fetus and its expected production as well as the lost production time for the dam, the additional time for her to conceive again, and any treatments necessary to get her healthy enough to carry a pregnancy to term in the future.
Other diseases with perhaps less obvious negative impacts on production include footrot and sore mouth, both potential problems for sheep and goats. The bacteria that cause footrot result in destruction of the hoof. Animals that find it too painful to walk and graze will most certainly not gain as well and may lose weight. Sore mouth is a viral disease that causes painful sores on the muzzle of lambs and kids and can spread to the udder of nursing dams. Again, animals in pain do not gain or produce to their full potential.
Clostridial diseases are caused by various members of the clostridium group of bacteria. There are several, but the more common offenders include tetanus, blackleg, botulism, and overeating disease (enterotoxaemia). This class of diseases often results in the sudden death of infected animals with few to no clinical signs beforehand. Even when clinical signs are present, these diseases are difficult to treat.
Vaccines are available for many diseases to prevent illness entirely or to decrease the severity of disease in an infected animal. Many disease-causing organisms are ubiquitous in the environment, are carried by various species of wildlife, or are normal inhabitants of various body systems just waiting for the right conditions to overgrow. Therefore, it isn’t a question of whether livestock will be exposed to such organisms, but rather a question of when.
A vaccinated animal is much more likely to be unfazed by an exposure than an unvaccinated one. In fact, in herds and flocks in which vaccination protocols are well-maintained, it may appear that vaccination is unnecessary because animals rarely if ever get sick. This is evidence that the vaccine program is doing exactly what it should: protecting the producer’s investment, production, and livelihood by defending animals from disease.
Consult your food animal veterinarian regarding an appropriate vaccination protocol for your farm. Regularly reevaluate your plans to ensure that they still meet the needs of your operation. And most importantly, properly implement the prescribed vaccination protocol. Administer the correct dose at the correct location and at the most appropriate time in the production cycle. Ensure that vaccines are stored properly before and during use to maintain their efficacy.
