Incidence of bovine neonatal pancytopenia in 243 farms in Germany

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral research groups from different European countries have worked on the aetiopathogenesis of bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) and an association between the use of the vaccine PregSure BVD (Pfizer, Germany) and the development of this haemorrhagic disease was confirmed. Because BNP is not a notifiable disease, it is difficult to obtain information on its incidence. Based on pharmacovigilance (PhV) data, which are the only officially available data at the national level, the incidence of BNP is considered low. However, voluntary reporting of the disease can lead to underreporting.To gain more insight into the incidence of BNP among the affected herds, an epidemiological study was performed, which focused on 243 farms in Germany with cases of BNP. Farmers were asked to report the occurrence of BNP, including the number of cases, which allowed calculation of incidence in the affected herds. Matching such data with the registered cases in the National PhV System (NPhVS) gave us an opportunity to assess the extent of BNP underreporting.ResultsOn 243 farms, a total of 1195 calves younger than 4 weeks with haemorrhagic diathesis were registered. In 58 % of the reports, a diagnosis of BNP was confirmed by blood analysis and or by necropsy. The number of cases observed on individual farms ranged from 1 to 80. Based on these results, the incidence of BNP on affected farms ranged from 0.3 to 15.2 % (median 2.9 %). The maximal incidence in the year with the highest number of BNP calves ranged between 0.4 and 18.6 % (median 3.3 %). Comparing the number of cases registered in the NPhVS to the numbers found in this study revealed considerable underreporting to the national database: only 44 % of the farms and 41 % of the BNP calves included in the study were registered in the NPhVS.ConclusionsIn spite of the opportunity to report BNP calves to the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (Langen, Germany), the estimated number of undetected BNP cases is remarkably high. However, even if the revealed substantial underreporting is taken into account, the incidence of BNP is low. Nevertheless, the incidence on some affected farms is very high, resulting in considerable financial losses that should not be underestimated. Although the exact pathomechanism of BNP at the molecular level is still not known, its incidence is clearly declining following withdrawal of PregSure BVD from the market.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0857-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Functionally Different Immune Phenotype in Cattle Is Associated With Higher Mastitis Incidence

“…BNP was the unwanted result of a fatal immune response to vaccination with PregSure BVD (8, 9). Five to ten percentage of vaccinated cattle produced disease inducing antibodies which were transferred via colostrum, killing 90% of receiving calves, regardless of kin (15, 31).…”

“…In cattle, pre-partum vaccination with various virulence factors of bacterial or viral infectious diseases is a standard procedure which effectively stimulates the production of specific antibodies (4, 5). A novel production technology using an allogeneic cell line (6) and the addition of a highly potent adjuvant to PregSure BVD, a new vaccine against bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), induced fatal immune reactions with production of alloreactive antibodies in 5–10% of vaccinated cows (7–9). These alloantibodies were transmitted to calves, regardless of kin, via the colostrum of these dams (8, 10) and caused bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) (7, 11–13), even years after the vaccine has been taken off the market (14).…”

A functional different immune capacity in cattle is associated with higher mastitis incidence

“…BNP demonstrated that an unwanted, fatal immune response occurred in a group of 5-10% cows of the animals vaccinated with PregSure BVD (7,16). These BNP dams developed aggressive antibodies that killed 90% of calves that received these antibodies via colostrum, irrespective if they were related to the dam or if they received the antibodies via mixed colostrum (8,10).…”

“…The vaccination with PregSure BVD was proven to be the cause for BNP (6,(13)(14)(15). From all vaccinated cows, only 5-10% produced pathogenic BNP alloantibodies (7,16). The disease was transmitted via colostrum antibodies by this subgroup of Pregsure BVD vaccinated cows to their calves and other, non-related calves that also received colostrum of these BNP dams (7,10).…”

Bovine Peripheral Blood Derived Lymphocyte Proteome and Secretome Show Divergent Reaction of Bovine Immune Phenotypes after Stimulation with Pokeweed Mitogen

“…With a first occurrence in 2005, bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) was a novel, fatal, vaccination-associated disease characterized by symptoms of hemorrhagic diathesis in newborn calves with a high mortality rate [ 1 ]. A novel vaccine against bovine viral diarrhea (PregSure BVD) induced fatal immune reactions with the production of alloreactive antibodies [ 2 , 3 ] in 5–10% of vaccinated cows [ 1 ]. These alloantibodies were transferred via colostrum and caused BNP in calves [ 1 , 2 , 4 ].…”