Evaluation of the results of a survey of dairy producers on dairy herd biosecurity and vaccination against bovine viral diarrhea.

A survey on biosecurity and vaccination practices was sent to 632 dairy producers in Pennsylvania to determine the proportion of the approximately 12,500 dairy herds in Pennsylvania that might be at risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Most producers relied on their veterinarian for vaccination information and vaccine purchases, but administered the vaccine to the cattle themselves. Many producers did not vaccinate all susceptible groups of cattle in their herd. Also, many producers did not administer a booster vaccination after administration of an initial killed-virus vaccine, as recommended by vaccine manufacturers. As a result, although 309 of 376 (82.2%) dairy producers indicated that they routinely vaccinated their herds, only 73 of 266 (27.4%) herds were considered adequately vaccinated. Veterinarians were as likely to administer vaccines to cattle in adequately vaccinated herds as to cattle in inadequately vaccinated herds. Adequately vaccinated herds were more likely to be larger herds (> 121 cattle) than smaller herds. Analysis of survey results indicated that veterinarians are not taking full advantage of their pivotal role in dairy herd vaccination programs.