Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) is an important viral disease of cattle. Despite the extensive use of inactivated vaccines for the prevention of BEF, a controlled study of their field effectiveness has never been performed. We conducted a large field effectiveness study of a BEF inactivated vaccine, during a large BEF outbreak. Neutralizing antibody titers measured in 385 heifers and calves 1 month after 2(nd) vaccination averaged 1:91.8 (CI95%=76.6-110). The effectiveness study enrolled 2780 cows in nine herds. In two herds cows vaccinated twice, 1 year before the outbreak and once 2-3 months before outbreak onset were compared with non-vaccinated cows. Average vaccine effectiveness of three vaccine doses compared to no vaccination was 47% (CI95%=34-57) in these herds. In two other herds cows vaccinated twice 1 year before the outbreak and twice again 2-3 months before outbreak were compared with cows vaccinated only twice 2-3 months prior to the outbreak. Average vaccine effectiveness of four doses compared to two doses was 49% (CI95%=25-65) in these herds. In five herds cows vaccinated twice 2-3 months before outbreak onset were compared with non-vaccinated cows. This vaccination schedule was shown to be non-effective (average effectiveness=2%, CI95%=-14-17). Milk production analysis on one of the effected herds, in which 56% vaccine effectiveness and an absolute reduction of 27% in morbidity were documented, revealed a net milk production loss of 175.9kg/sick cow (CI95%=127.9-223.9) and an average gain of 37kg for each vaccinated cow (CI95%=-3.6-77.7). This study indicates that despite the fact that two vaccine doses of the tested inactivated vaccine elicited high titers of neutralizing antibodies, partial protection was induced only when at least 3 doses were administrated before natural challenge.
Keywords: Bovine ephemeral fever; Efficacy; Immunological memory; Inactivated vaccine; Vaccine effectiveness; Vaccine non responsiveness.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.