Calf Talk

March, 2008

Volume 14, No. 3

DON’T KILL YOUR LIVE VACCINE

By: Russ Schnepper, D. V. M.

Please do not kill your Modified Live Virus Vaccines before you give them to the calf. My biggest pet peeve is to open the refrigerator in a calf barn and find partial bottles of Modified Live Virus Vaccines. I just throw them in the waste can. Often the calf raiser gets upset with me and tells me he mixes the old made up vaccine with the newly reconstituted vaccine. This practice does not save money. The old dead vaccine can kill the newly reconstituted vaccine, so now it is all worthless.

Dr. Terhaar, DVM, AgriLabs’ Technical Services Veterinarian, states; “Modified live vaccines are just that, alive. In order for the vaccine to stimulate the immune system and give the animal protection from the disease we are vaccinating to prevent, it must be alive at the time it is given to the animal. “Unlike killed vaccines, we are expecting the modified live virus to grow and reproduce itself, to a limited extent, in the animal. There must be sufficient numbers of the virus growing to allow the immune system to recognize the vaccine virus and then mount an immune response to it. If this doesn’t happen, we get less than satisfactory protection from our health program.”

Here are some practical reminders on how best to procure, store, handle, and administer modified live virus vaccine in order to not inadvertently kill or damage the product before it is injected into the calf. Purchase vaccine from a reputable supplier. Modified live vaccine will be less than 100% effective if it has ever been unrefrigerated since manufacture. I have personally seen modified live virus vaccines sitting on the floor in a farm store, next to the cooler waiting to be properly placed in the cooler, for at least four days in the summer time. This vaccine would have been compromised. Keep vaccine cold and dark. Most modified live vaccine boxes say to store vaccines between 35 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit and not to freeze them. Always transport vaccine in a closed, refrigerated container. Cooler packs can help keep the vaccines cool until they are administered. Protect the vaccine from heat and light. The objective is to vaccinate each calf with fresh, viable vaccine. Therefore when processing calves, vaccine and syringes always need to be kept under refrigeration and out of sunlight. Take a cooler to the processing area, with cooler packs in it to protect the vaccine. Label syringes to avoid vaccine mix-ups. Use one syringe for modified live vaccines and another for your killed vaccines as well as antibiotics, etc. Accidental mix-ups occur more often than you would like. Using the killed vaccine syringe to inject the modified live vaccine results in killing the live vaccine. So please be careful and use the correct syringe for the correct vaccine. Mix only enough vaccine to be injected within 30 minutes. Modified live vaccines have to be utilized in a timely fashion to work. You can’t store MLV’s period! Buying smaller dose vials can help keep the 30 minute time frame in check. Keep mixed vaccine bottles and syringes out of direct sunlight. Ultraviolet light from the sun can destroy live vaccines in a short time. Only use boiling water to clean syringes - no disinfectants nor soaps.

Immunoboost is stable at room temperature for a long time, until you puncture the stopper with a contaminated needle. Be sure to refrigerate it then.

Contact information for ordering information and questions about our products:

Schnepper International, Inc.

3210 County B, Platteville, WI 53818

608-348-6141, Fax: 608-348-6146