Florida cattleman Jim Beaty purchased a new group of cows and calves last summer only to see the calves fall victim to scours, high morbidity, and death. He turned to his veterinarian, Dr. Jim Harvey of Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital, to unravel the mystery.

 

Harvey evaluated the animals and sent samples to the lab, but the tests yielded nothing. He administered antibiotics, also to no avail. Unable to confirm a diagnosis, Beaty decided to pull the calves off their mothers and feed them independently. Eventually the calves perked up. They were sold once they were healthy again.

 

During the winter months, Beaty’s regular 500-head herd began calving and the problem returned among the newborn calves. Again, he contacted Harvey and again Harvey ran tests, but this time the results were different. The veterinarian determined that at least one calf was infected with Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause serious enteric disease. Harvey recommended Salmonella Newport Bacterial  extract vaccine from AgriLabs made with SRP® technology.

 

“We vaccinated all the calves that were on the ground. We pulled the cows that had not calved, vaccinated them twice, and put them on a new pasture,” Harvey says. Harvey had not used this vaccine

before and didn’t know what to expect. He was impressed by the results. “Once we vaccinated the calves, the morbidity stopped. It nipped it in the bud,” he explains. Additionally, the pregnant cows that were vaccinated calved with no incidence of scours in their offspring.

 

Another Harvey client, Bill Brumley, was so impressed that he decided to vaccinate his own herd with Salmonella Newport Bacterial Extract vaccine as a preventative measure. He administered two doses of the vaccine to cows prior to calving and no scour cases or sickness were observed among his calves. “The vaccine appears good and safe. We’ve seen no problems with abortions after vaccination,” notes Harvey.

 

Ready for Next Time Only one calf tested positive for Salmonella at the Beaty Ranch and Harvey admits he would have preferred more positive cultures or to know the initial source of the Salmonella. All water on the ranch was tested, including ditches, two flowing wells, and ponds, but no other Salmonella wasisolated. The ranch does share some fence-line contact with neighboring herds, which could be a  possible source.

 

But Harvey believes the problem most likely was brought in by the cows Beaty purchased the summer before. As Beaty’s next calving season approaches, he plans to be ready by using the Salmonella Newport Bacterial Extract vaccine again to ward off future Salmonella cases. “The vaccine helped eliminate sickness among the calves. I plan to vaccinate my cows with it annually prior to calving,” Beaty says.

 

Harvey believes herd management is important along with vaccination for Salmonella control. For instance, he says, the ability to isolate cows, vaccinate them, and put them on clean pastures was helpful in curbing the Salmonella problem at the Beaty Ranch.  For herds new to the vaccine, Harvey recommends administering a two-dose vaccination on every cow prior to calving the first year, followed by a booster during late gestation in subsequent years.

 

In November 2004, the vaccine manufactured using SRP® technology was granted a conditional license by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is now available from AgriLabs under the label name Salmonella Newport Bacterial Extract. For more information click here.