IBR

whelan2

I am taking part in the Glanbia herd screening service, got my second results on Friday. The initial result was low positive for ibr, the latest one increased 4 fold on previous reading. I dont vaccinate for ibr, I know nothing about it so i have a few questions.
Do i need to vaccinate?
The cows are not coughing, there are a few with snotty noses but thats it. There is a bought in one that is always snotty , she would have been dry when first milk test was done, i am assuming she has ibr. Would her going back into the bulk tank be enough to put the reading up high?
What is the vaccination process? How often and where do they get it? Is it expensive?
What are the symptoms of ibr?
Would all stock have to be vaccinated?
Thanks, i will contact my vet in the next few days to see what he says

jt65

we vaccinate cows twice a year,

calves at 3 weeks (nasal) and again at housing along with all other cattle,

we an an out break about 6 years ago

from my experience , milk, nasal swabs, and dung samples are very inaccurate

cost is about €3.50 ( maybe less if you can buy in larger quanties )

believe me it's cheap even if it prevents one case of ibr in your herd

best discuss with a vet that knows your herd history BUT DON'T BE LED ASTRAY by sampling ... I was until it eventually showed up in a pm

whelan2

should i take samples from the "snotty" cows, theres only 2 of them? How is it passed from animal to animal ?

Greengrass1

We were in the exact same situation as yourself. High readings on milk samples but no signs in cows.
We started to vaccinate and haven't looked back yet. Herd and calves are a lot healthier and thrive much better.
IMO it is the most important vaccine. You could get an outbreak any time and it will break your heart

linebacker52

My milk sample also came back positive for IBR talked to vet about it who said we needed to blood test which all came back negative.

You need to talk to your vet about this your going to get a load of different answer on here all claiming to be right but only you and your vet know your herd.

sheebadog

whelan2 wrote: »

I am taking part in the Glanbia herd screening service, got my second results on Friday. The initial result was low positive for ibr, the latest one increased 4 fold on previous reading. I dont vaccinate for ibr, I know nothing about it so i have a few questions.
Do i need to vaccinate?
The cows are not coughing, there are a few with snotty noses but thats it. There is a bought in one that is always snotty , she would have been dry when first milk test was done, i am assuming she has ibr. Would her going back into the bulk tank be enough to put the reading up high?
What is the vaccination process? How often and where do they get it? Is it expensive?
What are the symptoms of ibr?
Would all stock have to be vaccinated?
Thanks, i will contact my vet in the next few days to see what he says

I would strongly advise culling all positives. Blood test is the only way of finding the culprits.
Nothing wrong with vaccination per say, but it cuts continental europe as a market for your stock. That's a large market to close the door on.
I was trawling Ireland for milch cows and it failed me to get a load together because everyone seems to be vaccinating.
If you have no bit of immunity in the herd it can have a huge impact when an outbreak occurs.

whelan2

linebacker52 wrote: »

My milk sample also came back positive for IBR talked to vet about it who said we needed to blood test which all came back negative.

You need to talk to your vet about this your going to get a load of different answer on here all claiming to be right but only you and your vet know your herd.

thanks, my vet is not a money grabbing type thank god and will call a spade a spade....

whelan2

what are the symptoms ?

greysides

sheebadog wrote: »

I would strongly advise culling all positives. Blood test is the only way of finding the culprits.
Nothing wrong with vaccination per say, but it cuts continental europe as a market for your stock. That's a large market to close the door on.
I was trawling Ireland for milch cows and it failed me to get a load together because everyone seems to be vaccinating.
If you have no bit of immunity in the herd it can have a huge impact when an outbreak occurs.

The problem with culling all positives is there can be an awful lot of them. Vaccination for a few years with the marker vaccine will allow that number to decrease. Eventually it will be small enough to allow the last few be culled.
Can't comment on rules for importation but with the marker vaccine being widely used it is possible to distinguish natually-infected from artificially-infected (vaccinated) animals.

whelan2

greysides wrote: »

The problem with culling all positives is there can be an awful lot of them. Vaccination for a few years with the marker vaccine will allow that number to decrease. Eventually it will be small enough to allow the last few be culled.
Can't comment on rules for importation but with the marker vaccine being widely used it is possible to distinguish natually-infected from artificially-infected (vaccinated) animals.

what is a marker vaccine?

greysides

whelan2 wrote: »

what is a marker vaccine?

IBR vaccines are either Marker (new type) or Non-marker (old type). Off the cuff, I think the virus used to produce the marker vaccine has a gene deleted which would be present in the wild virus, a gene that causes a particular surface protein to be present. There is a test to check whether that gene has caused an antibody response, or not. The presence, or abscence, of antibodies to the marker gene will distinguish which virus the animals immune system has responded to.

http://www.ibr-marker.com/IBR-Marker-vaccine.asp

jt65

the jury is still out using the marker vac, reports of not being 100% effective, some vets are recommending live only


as some one said you won't get your answer here, no 2 herds are the same ever your own vet will not be able to do that

the best vet that stands in any yard is the one that leaves the final decision to the farmer based on the history of the herd

I know one thing since we began vaccinating for IBR and salmonella the health of the herd has greatly improved coupled with better fertility & better thrive

greysides

The marker vaccine is available in 'live'. With the efficacy tests these vaccines have to pass before being marketed I can't see how a vaccine could be sold that doesn't do what it says on the tin.

whelan2

Is the vaccine the same for youngstock as cows?

slippy wicket

Ibr is a right fecker.
Do you have a new bull, if so get him tested as bovine herpes is a std for cattle.
Vaccinating is always better than not, we found a definate improvement in general cow health and fertility.
Vaccinating is either every 6 months on the live vaccine or once a year on the inactive once you start on the live.
€175 for 50 dose of inactive.
We vaccinated all females for 1st time this year, just did cows up to that.

onyerbikepat

AHI is always a good place to read up on things like this;

http://www.animalhealthireland.ie/page.php?id=33

awaywithyou

whelan2 wrote: »

Is the vaccine the same for youngstock as cows?

Yeah... Try and do it intranasally in young stock... It gets to work straight away as IBR is respiratory... Takes 3 wks for it work when injected into the muscle...

As gg said earlier... The benefits of vaccinating for ibr are huge... Do it straight away yo won't be sorry

stanflt

whelan2 wrote: »

should i take samples from the "snotty" cows, theres only 2 of them? How is it passed from animal to animal ?

Get those cows in the crush and have a look up there noses- large folliculs on the inside and thick snots are very common with Ibr

Take temp of cows-

whelan2

if i didnt do the milk screening i would be none the wiser!

whelan2

stanflt wrote: »

Get those cows in the crush and have a look up there noses- large folliculs on the inside and thick snots are very common with Ibr

Take temp of cows-

would they still have a temp if they have been snotty for years?

stanflt

whelan2 wrote: »

would they still have a temp if they have been snotty for years?

No only if a new outbreak

Severe milk reduction for 10 days is also an indicator

trixi2011

I had 2 outbrakes last year and it not pretty, the ibr virus itself can be pretty mild and cows can get over quite quickly, but when they start getting secondary infections its a bitch. The company I worked for wouldn't vaccinate as they worked out that it wasn't value for money. nasal swab the snotty cows and make a vaccination plan if they come back positive , my 2 cents worth

greysides

Never had much success with nasal swabs. Prefer bloods myself.

manjou

Had problem last year.Got heifers scanned early as had new bull running with them some in calf rest not.As scaning going on scanman heard some coughing and said did i test for ibr i just thought they needed a dose.Got vet to blood test and ibr showed up.Vacinating everything now includeing calves will know more when scanning cattle later but heifers calving spread was frm feb to last week.