Every cattle operation faces different disease pressures, management challenges and high-risk periods. When it comes to managing bovine respiratory disease (BRD), choosing the right vaccine means looking beyond the pathogens listed on the label to understand how it performs, and whether it fits your herd’s specific needs.
Working through these four key questions with your veterinarian can help you make more informed decisions about BRD vaccination:
1. What am I trying to accomplish with my BRD vaccination program?
Disease risk can change from year to year or even season to season. Before comparing vaccines, start by identifying the health challenges you’re trying to address, and when calves are most likely to encounter them.
“It’s all about risk and timing,” explains Dr. Matt Washburn, Boehringer Ingelheim beef professional services veterinarian. “To strategically vaccinate animals and build immunity, we need to have a clear understanding about what pathogens we’re likely to encounter, and when we’re likely to see them in our group. Our goal is to provide ample time and opportunity for the cattle to respond to the vaccine and build immunity.”
To ensure proper vaccination timing, review vaccination protocols with your veterinarian at least once a year.
Reviewing herd records at the same time can identify opportunities to adjust vaccination timing, add protection against a new risk, or eliminate vaccines that are no longer necessary.
2. How is this vaccine designed to perform?
Not all BRD vaccines are designed to stimulate immunity the same way, which adds another layer to product choice. This differentiation can become especially important when building immunity in young calves.
Maternal antibodies passed through colostrum provide critical early protection against disease, but those same antibodies can interfere with and neutralize vaccine antigens. When vaccinating young calves, find a vaccine that can perform under those conditions.
“If you’re thinking about using a vaccine in young calves, ask your veterinarian which products are proven with research to be valuable in building immunity,” Washburn says.
It was once thought that injectable vaccines couldn’t stimulate both local and systemic immunity, but research now shows otherwise.
“There are injectable vaccines with strong data and research to back up robust immunity against BRD in young calves,” he adds. “When BRD risk is a concern, this is a good conversation to have with your veterinarian before calves hit the ground.”
3. What is an adjuvant, and how does it help?
You don’t need to be a vaccine expert, but understanding how vaccines build immunity can inform your product decisions. One component worth discussing with your veterinarian is the adjuvant, which is designed to enhance and help direct the immune response generated by a vaccine.
“There are times when it’s easy to be focused on the pathogen coverage, but then we overlook what an adjuvanted injectable vaccine can do for the protocol,” Washburn notes.
One example is METASTIM adjuvant technology, found in PYRAMID vaccines. The presence of METASTIM in the formulation is the reason why PYRAMID vaccines are able to produce strong immunity against BRD in calves as young as 30 days of age.
Washburn compares the function of METASTIM to a Trojan horse.
“METASTIM helps protect the vaccine antigen from the immune system in the presence of circulating maternal antibodies, allowing more antigen to be presented and helping stimulate an immune response,” he shares.
4. What evidence supports this vaccine in my situation?
Different vaccines have different strengths, and a vaccine that performs well in one situation may not be the best match for another. Ask your veterinarian about the research behind a vaccine, including the age group and conditions in which it has been shown to be effective.
“One thing I see overlooked is the evidence behind a vaccine,” Washburn says. “It’s important our selected vaccines are scientifically proven to work and deliver the protection we expect.”
Since disease risks, cattle and management practices evolve, vaccination protocols should evolve with them. Regular conversations with your veterinarian can help ensure you’re asking the right questions, understanding the science behind your vaccine choices, and building a BRD vaccination program that fits the needs of your herd.
