Veterinary Services
Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health December 2009
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(revised January 2010)
Vaccination of Cattle and Calves
on U.S. Beef Cow-calf
Operations
in 2007. Operations with 1 to 49 beef cows were
Vaccinations are an integral tool for preventing
less likely than operations with 50 or more beef
disease and for maintaining herd health.
cows to vaccinate any beef cattle or calves
Vaccinations can improve overall herd health,
(table 1).
resulting in decreased death loss and improved
productivity. In addition, vaccinations can improve
Table 1. Percentage of Operations that
reproductive efficiency by reducing infertility,
Vaccinated any Beef Cattle or Calves in 2007,
embryonic and fetal deaths, and abortions.
by Herd Size
Optimum vaccination programs vary by region,
disease exposure, facilities, and other herd-specific
variables. Factors such as sanitation, nutrition Percent Operations
status, and concurrent infections must also be
considered. Herd Size (Number of Beef Cows)
While nearly all operations would benefit from 200 or All
some sort of immunization program, vaccination 1-49 50-99 100-199 More Operations
protocols may vary considerably between individual Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent
operations. Protocols must be tailored to an
operation’s specific needs including, perhaps, the 59.4 86.6 95.9 92.1 68.9
eventual marketing plan. The operation’s
veterinarian is in an ideal position to make optimum
recommendations. A higher percentage of operations in the
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Central region (90.7 percent) vaccinated any beef
Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) cattle or calves in 2007 compared with operations
conducted the Beef 2007–08 study, which focused in the Southeast region (59.8 percent) [table 2].
on beef cow-calf health and management practices
in 24 States.* These major beef cow-calf producing Table 2. Percentage of Operations that
States represented 79.6 percent of U.S. operations Vaccinated any Beef Cattle or Calves in 2007,
with beef cows and 87.8 percent of U.S. beef cows. by Region
One of the goals of the Beef 2007–08 study
was to take an in-depth look at vaccination Percent Operations
practices on the Nation’s beef cow-calf operations.
Region
General vaccination practices West Central Southeast
Overall, almost 7 of 10 operations 76.3 90.7 59.8
(68.9 percent) vaccinated any beef cattle or calves
A relatively small percentage of operations
vaccinated calves less than 22 days of age
* States/Regions: (11.7 percent) [table 3]. When calves in this age
West: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, group were vaccinated, they were vaccinated most
Wyoming
Central: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South
commonly against clostridial disease agents. Less
Dakota than 10 percent of operations vaccinated calves in
Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, this age group with any particular vaccine type.
Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture
Nearly two-thirds of operations (62.3 percent) operations vaccinated any cows for any of the listed
vaccinated any calves aged from 22 days to diseases.
weaning. As with younger calves, the most For cows, the most commonly used vaccine
common vaccination was a 2- or 4-way clostridial was for Leptospira (31.7 percent of operations)
vaccine (57.7 percent of operations). Approximately followed by BVD (28.1 percent of operations) and
3 of 10 operations vaccinated calves aged from 22 IBR (24.6 percent of operations). Less than one-
days to weaning for respiratory diseases such as third of operations (31.5 percent) vaccinated bulls
infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) or bovine for any of the listed diseases. Vaccination for BVD
viral diarrhea (BVD) (29.6 and 33.1 percent of and leptospirosis occurred on approximately one of
operations, respectively). Only 39.6 percent of five operations (24.3 and 21.2 percent,
respectively).
Table 3. Percentage of Operations by Type of Vaccine Used for Any Beef Cattle or Calves in 2007,
and by Cattle Class:
Percent Operations
Cattle Class
Weaned Bred
Calves Replace- Replace-
22 Days ment Heifers ment Heifers
Calves Through Through Through
Vaccine Type 1-21 Days Weaning Breeding Calving Cows Bulls
General (respiratory and/or reproductive)
Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent
Infectious bovine
rhinotracheitis, rednose (IBR) 2.1 29.6 19.4 11.9 24.6 18.2
Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) 3.0 33.1 25.1 13.7 28.1 24.3
Histophilus somni 0.4 16.6 9.3 5.3 7.9 5.5
Respiratory
PI3V (parainfluenza 3 virus) 2.0 26.6 19.3 11.1 22.6 17.6
BRSV (bovine respiratory
syncytial virus) 2.0 25.4 18.1 9.7 21.1 16.2
Pasteurella/
Mannheimia 1.2 12.6 5.9 3.0 4.5 3.1
Reproductive
Brucella abortus NA 6.4 14.8 2.8 1.0 NA
Leptospira NA 10.5 19.9 15.1 31.7 21.2
Campylobacter (vibrio) NA NA 12.6 10.0 19.0 13.3
Tritrichomonas NA NA 0.7 0.9 1.0 0.7
Neospora NA NA NA 0.4 0.3 NA
Clostridial
Clostridium chauvoei (blackleg)
and/or Cl. septicum (malignant
edema) and/or Cl. novyi and/or
Cl. sordellii (2- or 4-way) 8.1 57.7 24.8 8.1 14.5 10.1
Cl. perfringens C and D
(enterotoxemia, overeating) 6.3 33.8 12.2 6.7 11.6 8.2
Cl. tetani (tetanus) 1.8 17.6 4.7 2.1 5.7 3.6
Digestive
Rota/Corona 0.9 0.2 1.3 4.8 5.3 NA
E. coli 0.5 0.7 0.9 4.9 5.5 NA
Salmonella 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.5 0.3 0.0
Other
Anaplasma 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.3
Johne’s 0.0 0.0 NA NA NA NA
Moraxella bovis (pinkeye) 1.3 10.7 4.9 3.0 4.7 4.9
Wart virus 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.0
Any 11.7 62.3 36.7 24.2 39.6 31.5
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture
Summary
Over two-thirds of operations (69.4 percent)
vaccinated some cattle or calves. Among the
various classes of cattle and calves, calves aged
from 22 days through weaning were the animals
vaccinated most commonly; 62.3 percent of
operations vaccinated some calves in this age
group for some disease agent.
While vaccination can be considered costly to
an operation, it can also be an effective risk-
management tool. Often, when a new disease is
introduced into a naïve unvaccinated herd, it can
have devastating effects on pregnancy, calving,
and weaning rates, and weaning weights.
Producers should work with their veterinarians to
assess the true risks of disease exposure and the
tolerance for risk. Based on that information, they
can decide an optimum vaccination strategy for
their herd.
____________________________
For more information, contact:
USDA:APHIS:VS:CEAH
NRRC Building B, M.S. 2E7
2150 Centre Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117
970.494.7000
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/nahms
#564.1209
____________________________________
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