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Herd and Flock Health Programs: Part 2

Christine B. Navarre, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Extension Veterinarian
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
Baton Rouge, LA 70803 cnavarre@agcenter.lsu.edu

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Parasite Control It’s a new day!
We must decide if we want to continue as is, and not have any products in the near future
OR
Give up some economic benefits now to maintain effectiveness longer

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Parasite Control Program vs. Deworming Program
- There is no cookbook deworming program
- Depends on location in US/world
- Depends on management at individual herd/ranch level

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Control in General
- Increase Immunity
- Protein
- Use cows as vacuum cleaners for calves
- Also other grazing livestock species
- Horses, goats
- Don’t buy resistant worms
- Deworm with multiple classes on arrival
- Drylot for 24-48 hours
- Turnout onto contaminated pasture
- Cull poor doers
- USE HYBRID VIGOR!

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Use products properly
- Use generics with data to back them up
- Use pour-ons sparingly in cattle
- Dose properly based on weight
- Don’t deworm in feed or mineral
- Store products properly
- Not outside!
- Use combinations WITH REFUGIA PROGRAM
- At least two classes

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Keeping Refugia (Cattle)
- Either on pasture, in animals, or both
- If you have a clean pasture, you need some “dirty” animals
- Don’t deworm all animals before turnout onto clean pastures
- Especially with macrocyclic lactones and other long acting products
- Most practical with cow-calf pairs
- Don’t deworm cows 5 years and over-older cows then have refugia
- Based on breed and locale
- Avoid deworming cows going into summer in South-no Ostertagia refugia
- If you want to have all clean animals (calves, stockers, replacement heifers) have “dirty” pasture or non- permanent pastures
- Avoid keeping replacement heifers that have all been dewormed and then put on clean pasture for grazing
- They will likely only have resistant parasites in the gut
- If a must, treat like new arrivals (combo treat, drylot, turnout on contaminated pasture)

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Small Ruminants
- FAMACHA if Haemonchus contortus
- Five point check
- Eye for anemia
- Back for condition
- Tail for soiling
- Jaw for swelling
- Nose for discharge
- Selective treatment and culling
- https://www.wormx.info/

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Herd Health Programs: Biosecurity
- Prevention is always cheaper than treatment
- Most disease is bought and paid for
- Do not attempt to chase a disease problem if you are not going to prevent it from coming back in
- Waste of time and money
- A good biosecurity program will protect a herd from diseases in which there is no good vaccine and/or expensive vaccine

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Biosecurity Protocols
- Challenging and take time to develop
- BUT
- Cheapest and most effective means of disease control
- No disease prevention program will work without biosecurity
- Different levels of biosecurity and therefore risk with different management/business models

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Routes of Transmission
- Apply to all infectious agents
- Animal must be exposed to develop disease
- Understand different routes of transmission = Gain control
- Risk areas must be identified
- Design protocols to minimize exposure
- Prioritize

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Biosecurity: How do diseases get in?
- Purchased or returning animals
- Diseased, carriers, incubating
- Other animals, pests, wildlife
- Cats, dogs, feral hogs, deer, rodents, birds, insects
- People
- Boots, clothing, hands, breathing
- Inanimate objects
- Trucks, equipment
- Contaminated feed and water

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Bottom Line: Biosecurity
- Does not have to be complicated
- Testing of purchased animals
- Quarantine new arrivals, sick, returning from show
- Avoid fenceline contact with neighbors

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Vaccination Programs
- There is no generic/cookbook program!
- To give you one would be malpractice
- Would have to cover all known diseases and be safe
- Would cost you a fortune
- Would not necessarily be the most effective

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Vaccine Basics
- Vaccinate-to administer a vaccine
- Immunize-producing a detectable immune response through vaccination
- Does not imply protection

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Vaccine Basics
- Vaccine Failures
- Colostral immunity interference?
- Improper vaccine handling
- Improper booster administration
- Incubating disease already
- Too stressed to respond
- Immunity not strong enough to prevent/mitigate disease

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Vaccine Basics
- Prevention vs. decrease incidence/severity
- Vaccine immunity can be overwhelmed
- Must be combined with sanitation/biosecurity
- Work best in healthy animals
- Good nutrition, parasite control=healthy cattle= can respond
- Cattle in poor body condition, mineral deficiencies, infected with other diseases= cannot respond
- Handling Stress!

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Vaccine Basics
- Single use needles
- Anaplasmosis, etc.
- Meat and milk quality assurance
- Proper site, needle selection
- Select low dose, SQ
- Abide by withdrawal times on label

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