Oral Vaccine for Shipping Fever Could Help Cattle Breathe Easier

Also known as bovine respiratory disease, shipping fever is caused by naturally occurring organisms in the animals' nasal passages. When animals are stressed during transport, those organisms can proliferate and pass into the lungs, causing severe breathing problems, and possibly death.

Currently 40 to 60 percent of transported cattle contract some type of illness. Shipping fever costs U.S. producers in excess of $1 billion annually in animal deaths, antibiotic needs, trimming costs at the packer and poor-quality meat and hide products.

Researchers at New Mexico State University's College of Agriculture and Home Economics are working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service to develop the vaccine. In a field trial, the oral vaccine was fed to calves considered have either high or low risk for the disease. Vaccinated and unvaccinated high-risk calves were shipped from Arkansas to the NMSU feedlot in Clayton. Low-risk animals were shipped to the same feedlot but from a much shorter distance.

Only 4 percent of vaccinated high-risk calves died, compared to 16 percent of the unvaccinated ones. Low-risk calves fed the oral vaccine had a 25-percent higher average weight gain during the first 28 days on feed, compared to unvaccinated animals.

The oral dose also protected the animals within 4 days, instead of the 10 to 14 common with injectable vaccines. The oral vaccine also avoids injection-site lesions.

The Biotechnology Research and Development Consortium in Peoria, Ill., funded part of the research and has applied for a patent.

In addition to vaccines, researchers also are evaluating different nutritional programs that may help lower the risk of the disease. Certain feed ingredients like the protein supplement urea may improve feed intake and reduce the risk of shipping fever.

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