What all are the essential vaccinations required for my cattle?
There are many cattle diseases in our country that cause severe economic losses due to drastic reduction in the production capacity. Some of the diseases are even highly fatal. It causes serious adverse effects like abortion, diarrhoea, and respiratory disease.
Vaccinating your cattle with proper record management helps ensure the desirable growth of the cattle. Vaccination on time makes sure the cattle are healthy and ready to fight against deadly infections and diseases.
At a commercial dairy farm not vaccinating the cattle may result in lower productivity of milk due to regular health issues faced by the cattle.
Vaccination on time addresses major diseases. Some of the common diseases and their symptoms are as follows:
1. Anthrax (Splenic Fever)
Mode:
By ingestion of contaminated feed and fodder with spores of the bacteria.
Symptoms:
Bloody discharge from mouth and nostril
Blood-stained diarrhoea
Sudden rise in temperature and death
2. Black Quarter (BQ)
Mode:
By ingestion of contaminated food and water.
Symptoms:
Painful swelling in muscles of hindquarters or forelimbs
High temperature
3. Brucellosis (Bang’s Disease)
Mode:
By ingestion of contaminated food and water and by contact with diseased animals
Symptoms:
Abortion during the last stage of pregnancy.
4. Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS)
Mode:
By ingestion of contaminated food and water and by contact with diseased animals
Symptoms:
High fever
Swollen head, throat, dewlap, and neck.
The tongue is swollen and protruded outside and salivation
5. Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)
Mode:
By ingestion of infected feed and water.
Symptoms:
Rise in temperature
Vesicles on mouth, feet, udder, and teats.
Foot le
6. Theileria
Mode:
By the bite of infected ticks
Symptoms:
Fever, anaemia, pale or yellow whites of eyes (Jaundice)
7. Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)
Mode:
From respiratory secretions of infected cattle, semen of infected bulls.
Symptoms:
Fever, coughing and nasal discharge
Acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.
8. Mastitis
Mode:
By microorganisms gaining access into the udder through the teat canal
Symptoms:
Swelling of udder
Production of clotted milk
High fever
9. Ketosis
Mode:
Due to disturbance in carbohydrate metabolism (Results in accumulation of ketone bodies)
Symptoms:
Loss of appetite
Reduced rumen activity
Discharges from eyes and nostrils
Sudden loss of body weight
10. Milk Fever
Mode:
(Hypocalcaemia) Due to acute fall in blood calcium and magnesium levels
Symptoms:
Loss of appetite
Constipation, restlessness
Unsteadiness in movement
11. Bloat
Mode:
Due to the accumulation of gas and foam in the rumen (due to feeding of excess leguminous fodders)
Symptoms:
Distension of the left side in front of the hip bone.
Followed by distension of right side, protrusion of anus, respiratory distress
Fortunately, vaccines are available for most of these diseases in our country and can be easily controlled if timely and regular vaccination is carried out. It is usually less expensive to prevent than treat a disease.
Also, it is very important to maintain a record related to vaccination upcoming schedule and held date. In major cases, farmers tend to forget the date of their cattle to be vaccinated and face losses either as cattle death or lower productivity due to health-related problems.
It is advisable to use dairy farm management apps that will help to maintain the vaccination record of the cattle, also the platform will notify through notification and message alert about the upcoming vaccination date of the cattle.
This way cattle management will be easier for the farmer and cattle’s health as it will be timely vaccinated to curb fatal diseases.
These applications have an easy and localized user interface for the farmers to enter and keep the track of their farm-related data and upcoming activities.
When it comes to Vaccination proper planning and schedule is a must. Successful dairy farmers plan them before the cattle’s birth as they know the importance of not missing the vaccination date of their cattle.
Thus, dairy farm management apps also have a provision for the Vets, Para Vets or Vaccination Workers to record the vaccination-related record of the cattle and receive notifications about their upcoming dates.
This way the chances of missing the cattle’s vaccination date will be minimized and there fewer chances of the cattle catching a disease or getting infected.
Here is the list of respective diseases and their Vaccination schedule for your reference:
Sl. No | Name of Disease | Age of first dose vaccination | Booster dose | Frequency of Subsequent dose |
01 | Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) | 4 months and above | 1 month after first dose | Every 6 months |
02 | Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS) | 6 months and above | - | Annually in endemic areas |
03 | Black Quarter (BQ) | 6 months and above | - | Annually in endemic areas |
04 | Brucellosis | 4-8 months of age (Only female calves) | - | Once in a lifetime |
05 | Theileriosis | 3 months of age and above | - | Once in a lifetime. Only required for crossbred and exotic cattle. |
06 | Anthrax | 4 months and above | - | Annually in endemic areas |
07 | IBR | 3 months and above | 1 month after first dose | Every 6 months (vaccine presently not produced in India) |
08 | Rabies (Post bite therapy only) | Immediately after suspected bite | 4th day | 7,14,28 and 90 (optional) days after first dose |