Pneumonia vaccines in cattle

An important part of the herd health plan is an effective vaccination strategy for common causes of pneumonia. To prevent respiratory disease, good management, appropriate building design and ventilation are also important.

Respiratory disease is an infection of the respiratory tract caused by viruses and bacteria. It occurs when bacterial or viral agents (sometimes both simultaneously) are combined with poor air quality and ventilation, poor husbandry or stress. Financial losses result from mortality, extra labour and treatment costs, but the greatest loss is from weight loss during illness and recovery.  

The cost: £80m per year (Scott 2009) to the national herd (£30 per mild case, £500 when the animal dies). 

Sixteen vaccines for pneumonia are currently licensed in the UK (updated July 2023):  

• Bovalto Pastobov contains Mannheimia haemolytica type A1 antigen
• Bovalto Respi 3 contains inactivated M. haemolytica A1, inactivated Bovine respiratory syncytial and Parainfluenza 3 viruses
• Bovalto Respi 4 contains inactivated M. haemolytica A1, inactivated Bovine respiratory syncytial, Parainfluenza 3 and BVD viruses
• Bovalto Respi Intranasal contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus and Parainfluenza 3 virus
• Bovilis Bovipast RSP contains inactivated M. haemolytica A1, inactivated Bovine respiratory syncytial and Parainfluenza 3 viruses
• Bovilis® INtranasal RSP™ Live contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus and Parainfluenza 3 virus
• Hiprabovis SOMNI/Lkt contains inactivated M. haemolytica leukotoxoid and inactivated Histophilus somni
• NASYM contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus
• Pneumovac contains inactivated M. haemolytica A1, inactivated Bovine respiratory syncytial and Parainfluenza 3 viruses
• Pneumovac Plus contains inactivated M. haemolytica A1, inactivated Bovine respiratory syncytial, Parainfluenza 3 viruses and live BVD virus
• Rispoval 2 contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus and Parainfluenza 3 virus
• Rispoval 3 contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus, Parainfluenza 3 virus and inactivated BVD virus
• Rispoval 4 contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus, Parainfluenza 3 virus, inactivated BVD virus and Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BVH-1)
• Rispoval® Pasteurella contains inactivated M. haemolytica
• Rispoval RS contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus
• Rispoval RS+PI3 Intranasal contains modified live Bovine respiratory syncytial virus and Parainfluenza 3 virus

Vaccines for Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) containing only Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) have not been included in the estimated uptake of vaccines targeted at calf pneumonia. The uptake of vaccines for BHV-1 has been estimated separately.

Numerator: The number of doses of vaccine administered has been calculated by multiplying the number of packs sold by the number of doses per pack.  

The recommended primary vaccination course for these vaccines was used to estimate the number of cattle vaccinated in each calendar year. 

Denominator: With these vaccines, the common industry practice is only to vaccinate animals in the first year of life. It was assumed that only animals under one year of age should be vaccinated; the total population of cattle under one year of age was used as the denominator for the target population.  

Vaccination uptake

The uptake of vaccines for pneumonia rose steadily, from 29% in 2011 to 44% in 2021, followed by a slight drop to 43% in 2022.