Altering the time of vaccination against respiratory pathogens to enhance antibody response and performance of feeder cattle1

Abstract

Ninety Angus × Hereford calves were ranked by sex, BW, and age and assigned to 1 of 3 vaccination schemes against the bovine respiratory disease complex: 1) vaccination at weaning (d 0) and a booster at feedlot entry (d 30; CON; = 30), 2) vaccination 15 d before weaning (d -15) and a booster 15 d before feedlot entry (d 15; EARLY; = 30), and 3) vaccination 15 d after weaning (d 15) and a booster 15 d after feedlot entry (d 45; DELAYED; = 30). From d -15 to 7, calves were maintained as a single group on pasture. On d 8, calves were placed into 1 of 18 drylot pens (6 pens/treatment; 5 calves/pen) and fed alfalfa-triticale hay. On d 29, calves were transported 1,440 km in a livestock trailer and unloaded on d 30 at the same feed yard with the same pen arrangement used prior to transport. From d 30 to 75, calves were fed a receiving diet based on alfalfa-triticale hay + corn-based concentrate. Calf BW was recorded on 2 consecutive days (d -15, -14, 0, 1, 28, 29, 75, and 76). Blood samples were collected on d -15, 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75. The EARLY calves had less ( ≤ 0.09) ADG before weaning (d -15 to -1); however, they had greater ( ≤ 0.01) ADG during feedlot receiving (d 30 to 75) compared with calves with the other treatments. During preconditioning (d 0 to 29), CON calves had greater ( ≤ 0.04) DMI compared with EARLY and DELAYED calves. During feedlot receiving, no treatment differences were detected ( ≥ 0.17) for hay or concentrate DMI, G:F, and morbidity and mortality rates. There were no treatment effects on calf BW at weaning and at the end of the preconditioning or receiving periods ( ≥ 0.65). Plasma concentrations of antibodies against were greater ( ≤ 0.05) in EARLY calves than in CON and DELAYED calves on d 0, greater ( ≤ 0.04) for CON calves than for EARLY and DELAYED calves on d 15, greater ( ≤ 0.02) in DELAYED and EARLY calves than in CON calves on d 30, and greater ( = 0.03) in EARLY calves than in CON calves on d 75. Plasma concentrations of antibodies against bovine viral diarrhea viruses were greater ( ≤ 0.04) in EARLY calves than in CON and DELAYED calves on d 15 and greater for EARLY and CON calves than for DELAYED calves on d 30 and 45. Collectively, EARLY calves had greater plasma concentrations of antibodies against the evaluated pathogens at feedlot entry and increased ADG during receiving compared with their CON and DELAYED cohorts. Hence, anticipating initial and booster vaccinations against respiratory pathogens to provide both doses prior to feedlot entry appears to be a valid strategy to enhance cattle health and performance during feedlot receiving.

Effects of timing of vaccination relative to weaning and post-weaning frequency of energy supplementation on growth and immunity of beef calves1

“…*P ≤ 0.05. Lippolis et al, 2016). In the current study, pre-weaning vaccination decreased pre-weaning calf ADG by 41% compared with calves assigned to post-weaning vaccination, whereas post-weaning vaccination decreased calf ADG from d 7 to 21 (first 14 d after first round of vaccination) by 28% compared with calves that received pre-weaning vaccinations.…”

“…Vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody titers provide an indication of immune protection (Bolin and Ridpath, 1990) and vaccine efficacy in calves (Callan, 2001;Richeson et al, 2008). The ability of an animal to respond to vaccination varies from animal to animal and depends on environmental and genetic factors, maternal antibody concentrations (Downey et al, 2013), stress and previous exposure to pathogens (Loerch and Fluharty, 1999), frequency of energy supplementation (Artioli et al, 2015;Silva et al, 2017), metabolizable protein supply (Moriel et al, 2015), maternal energy-restriction during late gestation (Moriel et al, 2016b), and timing of vaccination (Richeson et al, 2008;Lippolis et al, 2016). However, it is still poorly understood how acquired antibody levels may be affected by the timing of vaccination associated with other stressful calf management practices.…”

Genome-wide association study for response to vaccination in Angus calves1

“…Research into response to vaccination has identified multiple environmental and management variables which impact an individual calf’s ability to mount an antibody response [7–9]. Factors such as maternally derived antibody levels from colostrum, calf age, seasonality, and weaning status all impact a calf’s individual immune system, and result in variability in its response to vaccination [10–12].…”

Effects of vaccination timing against respiratory pathogens on performance, antibody response, and health in feedlot cattle1

“…However, the majority of BRD cases occur within the first 14 d upon feedlot entry (Kirkpatrick et al, 2008), and delaying vaccination may not provide full immunological protection to newly received cattle. In turn, Lippolis et al (2016) reported that advancing the time of BRD vaccination, by providing the first dose prior to weaning and revaccination during a 30-d preconditioning program, enhanced cattle performance and antibody response to bovine viral diarrhea viruses (BVDV) and Mannheimia haemolytica (MH) during feedlot receiving. Nevertheless, these authors failed to report substantial treatment impacts on BRD incidence, given that morbidity rates were not as prevalent when compared to commercial feedlots (Snowder et al, 2006;Marques et al, 2016).…”

“…Nevertheless, these authors failed to report substantial treatment impacts on BRD incidence, given that morbidity rates were not as prevalent when compared to commercial feedlots (Snowder et al, 2006;Marques et al, 2016). Lippolis et al (2016) concluded that additional research was warranted to validate their results in high-stress feedlot environments, including evaluation of a greater number of animals, antibody response to vaccination against other BRD viruses, and cattle performance until slaughter. Based on this rationale, we hypothesized that advancing the time of vaccination against BRD pathogens, by providing both doses prior to feedlot entry, mitigates BRD incidence and promotes performance of cattle in a commercial feedlot system.…”