Interest of clostridial vaccination in pregnant cows to reduce omphalitis in beef calves. Results from a field study in France.

The study was carried out during two calving campaigns (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) and involved four cattle practitioners located in central France.

Eight herds with an history of high incidence of omphalitis in calves participated in the study and a total of 299 cows were enrolled. In each herd, half of the pregnant cows were randomly selected to be vaccinated or not with a clostridial vaccine (Coglavax®, Ceva Santé Animale). After calving (D0), each calf was evaluated by the farmer at D1, D3 and D5. The attending veterinarian was asked to assess the calves at least once before D14 using a scoring sheet designed to reflect the severity of omphalitis (no omphalitis, mild omphalitis or severe omphalitis requiring parenteral antimicrobial treatment). Routine neonatal and umbilical care were kept as it was in each herd prior to this study. Comparisons were made between calves born from vaccinated pregnant cows and calves born from unvaccinated cows using chi-squared test with a .05 significance level.

• Results from this field study confirm cattle practitioner’s observation and support the fact that clostridial vaccination of
  pregnant cows can be beneficial to reduce the prevalence of calf omphalitis.
• The interest of this clostridial vaccination seems particularly relevant for cases of severe omphalitis that generally
  require large spectrum antibiotic treatment. As such, this preventive strategy can contribute to reduce the consumption
  of antibiotic in beef herds with a high incidence of omphalitis.
• Future studies should be carried out to further investigate the relative importance of Clostridia and of other pathogens
  implicated and the potential benefits of clostridial vaccination in the various type of omphalitis.

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