Ask the Vet - IBR Control

1. IBR control was mentioned by my vet when we prepared the herd health plan buthow much of an issue is it? How widespread is the disease, and what impact doesit have?

With an estimated prevalence of around 50% in the UK’s dairy herd, it’s no surprise that Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis, or IBR for short, should feature in herd health plans.

IBR can be a very costly disease. Investigations in Holland have shown that an infected animal will produce around 179kg less milk per year than a disease free animal. And in beef herds, clinically affected animals can take four weeks longer to reach target slaughter weight. Once an animal becomes infected, it remains infected for its entire life as it carries the virus and as a result is capable of spreading the infection in the herd.

While there are many symptoms in young and adult stock (ranging from mild to severe and sometimes fatal), respiratory problems and abortions are most commonly seen.

Signs are typically seen as:

• Fever
• Milk drop
• Reduced growth rates
• Discharge from the nose and eyes
• Coughing
• Difficult or laboured breathing
• Abortions (at 6-8 months of pregnancy)
• Occasionally death


In stressful situations such as transport, overcrowding or calving, apparently healthy animals that are carrying the virus can spread the infection through viral shedding.

Identifying carriers or infected animals can be difficult. Intervet’s complementary diagnostic services, DairyCheck and BeefCheck, will very quickly and reliably determine the IBR status of a herd. The results will indicate if the disease is active and current in the herd. Both services will also provide information on the BVD status of the herd.

If tests reveal the presence of IBR, then your vet is likely to recommend a vaccination program.

2. Which type of vaccine should I use? I know of people using marker vaccines andnon-marker ones, but I’m not sure of the pros and cons of each.

Of the products available for IBR control, there are “marker” and “non-marker” vaccines. A vaccine like Bovilis® IBR Marker is one that produces antibodies in the animal that are different from those produced following a cow-to-cow infection. Using a marker vaccine makes it possible to identify vaccinated cows from those infected from another cow. This gives the ‘true’ disease status of individual vaccinated animals - something not possible with traditional IBR non-Marker vaccines.

Within the UK, marker vaccines are mainly used by farmers aiming to export semen, embryos or live animals, as many European countries are attempting to eradicate IBR and therefore need to know the disease status of incoming cattle. Outside of this scenario, non-marker IBR vaccines, such as Bovilis IBR are most commonly used.

Contact your vet for further information.