Implementation of a pre-calving vaccination programme against rotavirus, coronavirus and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (F5) and association with dairy calf survival

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is one of the most common diseases and causes of death in calves during the first month of life. Pre-calving vaccination programme (PVP) against the most common diarrhea-causing pathogens could help to avoid this threat if hyperimmune transition milk (TM) is fed to calves throughout the whole susceptibility period. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to reveal the implementation practices of PVPs in large commercial dairy farms and to compare calf-level mortality hazards during the first year of vaccination (V+ period) and a year before implementing the vaccination programme (V- period). A questionnaire was filled out in 15 large-scale dairy farms in Estonia that used PVP. The farms were assigned into three groups based on compliance with the vaccine directions for use and TM feeding practices. Calf-level time-to-event data was analyzed with an observation period of 21 days and on-farm mortality due to diarrhea being the event of interest. RESULTS: During the V+ period, a significant decline in diarrhea-induced calf mortality was identified in three out of six herds that followed vaccination instructions and fed TM for at least 14 days. On average, calf mortality hazard due to diarrhea decreased among these herds (hazard rate ratio (HR) = 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63; 0.81). In the group of correctly vaccinating herds where TM was fed for less than 14 days, diarrhea-induced calf mortality decreased in two herds and remained unchanged in two herds with average diarrhea-induced calf mortality hazard declining significantly during the vaccination period (HR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.14; 0.41). Among the three farms that deviated from the vaccination instructions, the average calf mortality hazard increased in the V+ period (HR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.21; 2.14). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that implementing a PVP might aid to reduce diarrhea-induced calf mortality in large commercial dairy farms. There is a need to increase veterinarians´ and farmers´ awareness about the importance of including pregnant heifers into the vaccination programme and emphasize the importance of prolonged feeding of hyperimmune TM to calves. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-022-03154-2.