Comparison of humoral immune responses in dairy heifers vaccinated with 3 different commercial vaccines against bovine viral diarrhea virus and bovine herpesvirus-1.

A randomized clinical trial was conducted to compare the humoral immune response to 3 different commercial vaccines in dairy heifers housed in 3 different dairy farms in Quebec. All heifers were seronegative to type 1 bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) (Singer strain), type 2 BVDV (NVSL 125c strain), and bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) at the beginning of the trial. In addition, control heifers in group 1 remained seronegative to the 2 viruses till the end of the trial. Significant differences in humoral immune responses occurred among the 3 commercial vaccines at 4 weeks and 6 months following vaccination. The vaccine in group 2 elicited higher mean antibody titers and seroconversion rates to both type 1 and type 2 BVDV than that in groups 3 or 4. Vaccines in groups 2 and 3 induced higher mean antibody titers to BHV-1 than did the vaccine in group 4.