AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

A field survey conducted in 2015 by NT DPI found that, on average, only 67% of cattle within vaccinated herds were considered protected against botulism. Kelly and Fordyce (2014) suggested that a blood antibody ELISA level over 0.45 was protective against botulinum toxin challenge. This study also found significant differences between vaccine types in reaching this level of protection. The ‘water in oil in water’ adjuvant vaccine provided a higher level of protection than traditional botulism vaccines. Arthington & Havenga (2012) found that concurrent use of a 4-way trace mineral injection with a multivalent modified live respiratory vaccine significantly increased the production of neutralising antibody titres. In the current randomised controlled clinical field trial in QLD, repeat blood samples were taken from weaner cattle that had either received botulism vaccination alone (control) or botulism vaccination and a 4-way trace mineral injection (treatment group). Twenty eight days after vaccination, 90% of the treatment group had reached a botulism antibody titre of 0.45 compared to only 75% in the control group. The mean titre level in the treatment group was 0.96 compared to 0.74 in the control group. These results demonstrate that concurrent use of a 4-way trace mineral injection with a botulism vaccine may assist more cattle in developing protective levels of botulism antibodies