Chat
05-12-2015, 08:48 PM
I'm currently in the midst of getting my herd vaccinated against CL and I thought I'd record my experiences. I spent a good deal of time on the phone today with a researcher at Texas Vet Labs, the company that manufactures the vaccine I'm using. At this time, it is the only CL vaccine available in the U.S. that is labeled for goats. It came on the market three years ago (2012) and currently has a provisional FDA license, meaning it is still partially in the research phase and has to be approved for sale on a state-by-state basis.
So far every one of my goats has had some reaction, varying from a small knot that can only be found if you know where to feel, to large knobs that can be seen from a distance, and one goat who had the entire side of her neck become rigid and very painful. So far none of these swellings have been hot. I wanted to tell the researcher my experience so far and ask if this is typical. He said it is not, but that all of their research was done on Boers, and most of the feedback they've gotten has been from Boer herds. From the small amount of anecdotal evidence he's heard, dairy breeds seem to react to the vaccine at a much higher rate than Boers, and he even gave me an interesting reason behind this.
Boer goats only recently came over from South Africa, and there is no CL in South Africa. Since the breed had never before been exposed to this bacteria, they had no natural resistance to the disease and are therefore terribly affected by it. Our European dairy goats, of course, have lived with this disease for hundreds of years or more and are therefore more resistant (although obviously still susceptible). Goats with a strong immune response to CL have a greater reaction to the vaccine than ones who have little or no natural immune response. This is why he believes the dairy goats react more often and more strongly than the Boers. This is also why older goats are more likely to react than younger ones. They have probably been exposed to the bacteria more often in their lifetimes and their bodies are programmed to react against it.
Just my own conjecture, but I wonder if Swiss breeds are also more highly reactive than Nubians. I know that Nubians have been in Europe and America for a long time and have also been interbred with the European breeds, but I do wonder if they might in general still react less than the pure Swiss breeds. I find it interesting that the one pure Alpine that I vaccinated is the one who has had the worst reaction so far. But this could also just be plain coincidence. I'll be interested to see how my other pure Alpine reacts when I vaccinate her after she kids.
The vaccine is not officially approved for use in pregnant does, but that is only because of a lack of research, not because they believe it is harmful. In fact, the man I spoke to indicated that eventually when it is fully FDA licensed it will probably be recommended for pregnant goats one month before kidding. This was a relief to me because I vaccinated Delilah first, thinking that she was open. She had a hormone problem that made her cycle irregularly and kept her from settling. Suddenly, about two days after I vaccinated her I noticed her teats were enlarged. They have continued to grow and now she's getting a small udder. She doesn't remotely look pregnant, but the udder makes me think that her hormone issue may have resolved itself and she got bred by Finn late in the season. So I was very relieved that this vaccine should not affect her pregnancy, and that I may in fact have vaccinated her at the ideal time.
Finally, I also spoke to a researcher at Colorado Serum, the manufacturer of CaseBac, which is a CL vaccine for sheep. He said they have not given up on developing a vaccine for goats and that they actually have one currently in the final stage of development which looks very promising. They hope to be able to put it on the market soon. They have some final research to do this year but are having a hard time finding goats! He's never had this particular difficulty before, but because the price of meat is so high right now, everyone who has goats for sale is selling them on the market. A lot of folks who used to have goats are no longer raising them (likely they sold off because of hay prices and availability during the drought). I told him how excited I am to hear it and I asked if they could please do research on dairy breeds as well as the Boers. I told him what I'd learned from Texas Vet Labs about dairy goats having worse reactions and he seemed to appreciate my input on that particular matter. I like that Colorado Serum is based right here in my own state, and their vaccines tend to have a very good reputation.
So far every one of my goats has had some reaction, varying from a small knot that can only be found if you know where to feel, to large knobs that can be seen from a distance, and one goat who had the entire side of her neck become rigid and very painful. So far none of these swellings have been hot. I wanted to tell the researcher my experience so far and ask if this is typical. He said it is not, but that all of their research was done on Boers, and most of the feedback they've gotten has been from Boer herds. From the small amount of anecdotal evidence he's heard, dairy breeds seem to react to the vaccine at a much higher rate than Boers, and he even gave me an interesting reason behind this.
Boer goats only recently came over from South Africa, and there is no CL in South Africa. Since the breed had never before been exposed to this bacteria, they had no natural resistance to the disease and are therefore terribly affected by it. Our European dairy goats, of course, have lived with this disease for hundreds of years or more and are therefore more resistant (although obviously still susceptible). Goats with a strong immune response to CL have a greater reaction to the vaccine than ones who have little or no natural immune response. This is why he believes the dairy goats react more often and more strongly than the Boers. This is also why older goats are more likely to react than younger ones. They have probably been exposed to the bacteria more often in their lifetimes and their bodies are programmed to react against it.
Just my own conjecture, but I wonder if Swiss breeds are also more highly reactive than Nubians. I know that Nubians have been in Europe and America for a long time and have also been interbred with the European breeds, but I do wonder if they might in general still react less than the pure Swiss breeds. I find it interesting that the one pure Alpine that I vaccinated is the one who has had the worst reaction so far. But this could also just be plain coincidence. I'll be interested to see how my other pure Alpine reacts when I vaccinate her after she kids.
The vaccine is not officially approved for use in pregnant does, but that is only because of a lack of research, not because they believe it is harmful. In fact, the man I spoke to indicated that eventually when it is fully FDA licensed it will probably be recommended for pregnant goats one month before kidding. This was a relief to me because I vaccinated Delilah first, thinking that she was open. She had a hormone problem that made her cycle irregularly and kept her from settling. Suddenly, about two days after I vaccinated her I noticed her teats were enlarged. They have continued to grow and now she's getting a small udder. She doesn't remotely look pregnant, but the udder makes me think that her hormone issue may have resolved itself and she got bred by Finn late in the season. So I was very relieved that this vaccine should not affect her pregnancy, and that I may in fact have vaccinated her at the ideal time.
Finally, I also spoke to a researcher at Colorado Serum, the manufacturer of CaseBac, which is a CL vaccine for sheep. He said they have not given up on developing a vaccine for goats and that they actually have one currently in the final stage of development which looks very promising. They hope to be able to put it on the market soon. They have some final research to do this year but are having a hard time finding goats! He's never had this particular difficulty before, but because the price of meat is so high right now, everyone who has goats for sale is selling them on the market. A lot of folks who used to have goats are no longer raising them (likely they sold off because of hay prices and availability during the drought). I told him how excited I am to hear it and I asked if they could please do research on dairy breeds as well as the Boers. I told him what I'd learned from Texas Vet Labs about dairy goats having worse reactions and he seemed to appreciate my input on that particular matter. I like that Colorado Serum is based right here in my own state, and their vaccines tend to have a very good reputation.