Are your sheep healthy enough to be vaccinated

Are your sheep healthy enough to be vaccinated?

With many sheep farmers now in the throes of lambing it won’t be long before the first timing for pasteurella and clostridial vaccination of lambs is upon us.  With this comes some timely advice from Intervet to ensure that lambs and ewes are healthy enough before any vaccinations are given.

“Vaccine manufacturers’ datasheets recommend that animals are ‘healthy’ before they are vaccinated,” states Intervet’s veterinary adviser Rosemary Booth.  “Indeed, for a vaccine to work properly and provide the full disease control benefits, it is essential for an animal to be free from any disease or condition that could reduce its efficacy.”

So, what does healthy mean?  According to Ms Booth, the word healthy covers more than just infections, illness and viruses.  “For example, just in the last few years, and possibly as a result of the mild winters we seem to be experiencing, there has been a reported increase in sheep tick populations.  Ticks, just as fluke or worms, need to be controlled effectively, since high parasite burdens in or on sheep can have an effect on the animal’s immune system, meaning its ability to respond to vaccination could be reduced.  Remaining vigilant and keeping on top of any diseases, infections or parasite problems before sheep are vaccinated will reduce the risk of the vaccine not achieving its full benefit.”

Ms Booth advises farmers to use their own experience and knowledge of their stock when deciding whether or not an animal is healthy enough to be vaccinated and avoid/delay vaccinations in animals that are not 100% healthy.  It is important to make sure they are sufficiently healthy to be able to respond to the vaccine before you start.