Salmonellosis is a costly disease on any dairy farm.  Cases of this disease have been increasing in recent years, and it has become more and more of a concern to dairy farmers. The SRP vaccine is a new vaccine that has been successful when used in the face of clinical salmonellosis and in cases of subclinical fecal shedding of Salmonella.       

 

This vaccine uses purified extracts of porins and siderophore receptors, highly specialized protein pores found on the cell wall of bacteria, to fight Salmonella. Carlson Dairy, a 700-cow dairy in Pennock, Minnesota has been using the SRP Salmonella Newport Bacterial Extract® vaccine from AgriLabs with great success for the past four years. “We began using the SRP vaccine in the herd on a trial basis,” says Carl Carlson of Carlson Dairy. “Since using it, we have seen a very positive response.”

 

As a research herd for this product, 50 percent of the fresh cows on Carlson Dairy were found to be positive for Salmonella, and another 20 percent of their mid and late lactation cows also were carriers. “One and a half months after the initial use of the SRP vaccine, our Salmonella problem was eliminated completely,” adds Carlson. “The cases of Salmonella are now zero. We then incorporated this product into our vaccination protocols with other products by administering the vaccine once at dry-off and then giving a booster shot one month before calving – similar to many other vaccines,” Carlson notes, adding that Carlson Dairy was first persuaded to use this product by their veterinarian, who has been instrumental in the research and success of the SRP vaccine.

 

The SRP vaccine has provided numerous benefits for Carlson Dairy, according to Carl. “The main benefit of this product is the 100 percent success rate,” he says. “In addition, we are improving calf health by having the immunity passed on through the colostrum.” With these benefits, Carl feels that this product is definitely worth the investment. “We have not had any side effects or concerns with the product at all,” concludes Carlson, “only a tremendous level of success.”