Assessment of Available Vaccines for Bulls to Prevent Transmission of Reproductive Pathogens

Introduction

Effective and timely immunization of sires to be used for natural breeding or artificial insemination has the potential to prevent infertility or subfertility and transmission of some reproductive pathogens. Pathogens that should receive consideration when introducing new bulls in the United States include Brucella abortus, Campylobacter fetus, Histophilus somni, Leptospira species, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Tritrichomonas foetus, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bluetongue virus, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (bovine herpesvirus-1; BHV-1), and bovine herpesvirus-5 (BHV-5). Unfortunately, vaccines for which efficacy and safety have been proven are only available to prevent the negative consequences associated with some of these disease causing agents. Effective vaccination strategies may be limited by the safety of available vaccines, the inability to administer vaccines at the appropriate time, and the lack of demonstrated efficacy to prevent reproductive sequelae. [...]