Did you vaccinate for Bovine Viral Disease (BVD)? What will happen to a herd with 300 cows?
Cost-Benefit of BVD Vaccinations
Beef cattle producers can use the following BVD Vaccination Cost-Benefit Calculator to evaluate the costs, benefits and risks of different bovine viral diarrhea virus vaccination and outbreak scenarios.
BVD Vaccination Cost-Benefit Calculator
Step 1. Producer Information |
|
|---|---|
| Cow Herd Size (head) | |
| Weaning Weight (lbs) | |
| Expected Calf Price ($/lb) | |
| Expected Cow Price ($/lb) | |
| Cow Weight (lbs) | |
| Expected Price for Replacement Heifers ($/head) | |
| Cost of vaccine dose ($/dose) | |
| Labour to administer vaccine ($/head) | |
Instructions:
Step 1: Enter information in the yellow-shaded cells. It is suggested to keep the blue-shaded cell as the set defaults unless data is known.
Step 2: Scroll down to see Result Summary Charts.
Step 3: Scroll right to see the Decision Making Flow Chart comparing the results.
Check out the resources under Learn More
Assumptions
Typical prevalence of abortion from BVD for vaccinated cows: 6%
Unvaccinated cows could have abortion rates ranging from 6.7% to 58.9% and averaging 20%*
* Estimated based on typical prevalence of abortion from BVD at 6%, using the odds ratio and confident intervals. Odd ratio for abortion when unvaccinated cow in community pasture vs. vaccinated cow sourced from Theurer et al., 2015.
Notes:
While it is recognized that a BVD outbreak at a cow-calf operation could also cause calf death loss, and BVD vaccination could postively affect pregnancy rates, there is no suitable data (that is statistically significant) to include in this analysis.
Step 2. Result Summary
Sources:
Theurer, M. E., Larson, R. L., & White, B. J. (2015). Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of commercially available vaccines against bovine herpesvirus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine respiratory syncytial virus, and parainfluenza type 3 virus for mitigation of bovine respiratory disease complex in cattle. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 246(1), 126-142.
Dr. Nathan Erickson and Kathy Larson, Cost-Benefit Comparison of BRD and BVD Vaccinations
* Potential Saving = Potential Loss – Total Investment in Vaccination
Step 3. Flow Chart
Yes
Your vaccine investment is /head, if you include your labour and the vaccine shot.
No
You’ve saved some money and time here because you haven’t vaccinated. But then you may get a BVD outbreak.
Best Case Scenario:
You don’t have an outbreak
You have an outbreak.
Some cows still get sick. ~6% of your cows abort calves
Best Case Scenario: You don’t have an outbreak
Average Case: 20% of your cows abort calves
Worst Case Scenario: 59% abort
None of your cows abort due to BVD
4 head of your cows abort due to BVD
None of your cows abort due to BVD
60 head of your cows abort due to BVD
177 head of your cows abort due to BVD
You haven’t lost anything
Your fross loss is or /head
You haven’t lost anything
Your fross loss is or /head
Your fross loss is or /head
You haven’t lost anything
There’s a net loss of or /head
You haven’t lost anything
There’s a net loss of or /head
There’s a net loss of or /head
Your vaccine investment is or /head
Total loss: or /head
Remember: BVD virus is widespread and most herds are at risk for infection.
Total loss: or /head
Total loss: or /head