Rachael Boyle, Phillips-Rooks District Extension Agent Agriculture and Natural Resources

With temperatures warming up and green grass emerging in the pastures, it won’t be long before producers will be getting ready to move livestock to pastures. Which also means it’s time to give routine vaccinations to protect livestock from having health problems due to infectious diseases. The proper handling of vaccines is vital to assure the product is effective. Improper handling can cause the product to be useless.
There are three time periods when proper vaccine handling is crucial: during transportation, on-farm storage, and during use. Some simple best management practices should be implemented to keep vaccines viable to provide adequate immunity for cattle.
Vaccine transport—It’s important to buy vaccines from a reputable business. Use a cooler with ice packs to transport the vaccine home. When ordering a vaccine to have it shipped, it should be shipped overnight—not on a weekend—to make sure it will arrive at the proper temperature. When the vaccine arrives, check the temperature of the shipping cooler. If the temperature is above 45°F contact the distributer and arrange to have the vaccine replaced.
Vaccine storage—Cattle vaccines should be stored at temperatures between 35-45°F and protected from ultraviolet light. Exposure to temperatures outside of this range for extended periods of time will be detrimental to the vaccine, making it less effective. Freezing is most detrimental to killed vaccine products. Although killed vaccines are fairly tolerant to warmer temperatures, exposure to temperatures above 45°F for longer than one hour is not recommended. Modified live vaccines are fragile after they have been reconstituted (mixed) but the freeze-dried cake is actually very stable until temperatures reach 75°F. Temperatures above 75°F are detrimental to the vaccine in its dried state. Once a modified live product has been reconstituted, it should be kept between 35-45°F and used within two hours. It is important to mix only what will be used within this time frame. Store vaccines in a good refrigerator between 35-45°F. Ideally, the refrigerator should be housed in a temperature-controlled environment to reduce the workload of the refrigerator caused by extreme environmental temperatures. At a minimum, a cheap refrigerator thermometer should be placed in the refrigerator and checked regularly. Another important factor to consider is the vaccine’s expiration date. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to meet an efficacy standard approves vaccines. Over time, the efficacy of a vaccine will decline. The vaccine manufacturer has determined the timeline from the date of manufacture to the critical loss of efficacy when establishing the expiration date. Prior to use, check the expiration date on the vaccine and discard any expired product. To reduce the risk of a vaccine becoming outdated, buy only enough vaccine to meet immediate needs.
Vaccine usage—The final hurdle to keeping a vaccine viable is during the time of use. Vaccines should be transported to a working facility in a rigid sided cooler that has been pre-cooled. It will take about an hour for a large cooler at room temperature to cool down to the proper temperature of 35-45°F. Additionally, a smaller pre-cooled personal cooler should be available to store vaccines during use. Repeated opening the large storage cooler can cause temperature fluctuation, which may damage any unused vaccine. Once cattle are ready, mix the amount of vaccine needed for about an hour’s worth of use. During use, the open bottle of vaccine should be kept on ice in the small cooler. Additionally, syringes should be stored in a cool dark place between uses. Setting a syringe down on a table or tailgate will cause the vaccine to warm up and UV light will cause damage. Coolers with openings or slots to protect vaccine syringes can be purchased or made with a few basic tools and supplies. For ideas on making your own, check out this link https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/15324
When filling a syringe always use a clean needle to go into a bottle. Do not allow a needle that has been used for injecting an animal to go into a bottle. Bacteria and debris on the surface of the needle will be deposited into the bottle contaminating it and the vaccine. Contamination of a modified live vaccine can inactivate the vaccine, rendering it useless. Contamination of a killed vaccine can lead to infections at the vaccination site, limiting the immune response and causing abscesses.
The final step is cleaning the syringes. It is important to sanitize syringes following use. Syringes used for administration of killed vaccines can be cleaned using soaps or disinfectants and hot water, making sure to rinse all the residue away. Soaps and disinfectants can kill or deactivate the modified live vaccine and should be avoided. Instead, syringes used to administer modified live vaccine should be cleaned and sanitized using hot or boiling water.
For more information, please contact the local K-State Research and Extension Office.