Vaccine Launch

DTN Staff

Merck Animal Health announced a new intranasal vaccine to protect beef and dairy cattle from five common pneumonia-causing viral and bacterial pathogens. Labeled as Nasalgen 3-PMH, it provides early, broad-spectrum protection to animals as young as 1 week of age.

Scott Nordstrom, director of livestock innovation and discovery at Merck, explains this is a modified-live, intranasal vaccine that will stimulate a strong early immune response and give calves a strong foundation of respiratory disease protection. He says results of efficacy, duration of immunity and safety studies have shown the vaccine to be safe and effective in young calves. It will be widely available early 2021.

Specific to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) he reports Nasalgen 3-PMH provides duration of immunity (DOI) of six and one-half months. Against bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) the DOI is 11 weeks; and against parainfluenza 3 (PI3) DOI is three months. In addition, there is reported to be a four-month DOI against Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida.

An advantage of nasal-administered vaccines is that the dam's maternal antibodies found in colostrum don't interfere with the vaccine's effectiveness. It is also commonly thought intranasal vaccines are less stressful on calves.

Nasalgen 3-PMH is not temperature sensitive, meaning it will replicate and protect in a moderate to high temperature environment.

"If producers are working cattle in warm temperatures, both types of Nasalgen 3 vaccines [Nalsalgen 3-PMH and Nasalgen 3) will still replicate," notes Nordstrom. "The IBR antigen elicits a rapid interferon response as well, which provides non-specific protection against many viruses. Cattle are protected early on and then develop both a serum and mucosal antibody response within two weeks of vaccination."

Nasalgen 3-PMH and Nasalgen 3 are administered in a single 2-mL dose, and have a unique BluShadow diluent to clearly help indicate which calves have been vaccinated.

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