Effect of water restriction on performance, hematology and antibody responses in parenteral or intranasal modified-live viral vaccinated beef calves

Abstract

Crossbred beef steer (n=28) and heifer (n=32) calves were randomly assigned within sex to 1 of 6 treatments to evaluate the effects of water restriction and vaccination. Water restriction was applied at the ranch of origin prior to feedlot shipment and consisted of no water restriction except during transport to the feedlot (CON), 48 h water restriction prior to transport to the feedlot (ACU), or alternating 24 h periods of water restriction, over a 7 d period prior to transport to the feedlot (CHR). Upon feedlot arrival (d 0), 2 different respiratory vaccines were administered; parenteral administration of a pentavalent (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus-IBRV; bovine viral diarrhea virus-BVDV, bovine respiratory syncytial virus-BRSV, and parainfluenza-3 virus-PI3V) modified-live virus (MLV) respiratory vaccine (2 mL subcutaneous in the neck; SUB) or intranasal administration of a trivalent (IBRV, BRSV, PI3V) MLV respiratory vaccine (1 mL/naris; INT). Cattle subjected to each of the water restriction regimens were equally allocated among vaccine treatments applied on d 0. Blood and nasal swabs were collected periodically to determine complete blood count, antigen-specific antibody titer, and BRSV-specific secretory IgA. Rectal temperature and body weight (BW) were recorded concurrent to blood sampling. Total neutrophils tended to increase overall for CONINT and ACUINT (P s 0.09). Rectal temperature was decreased after transport, but increased beginning on d 5 (P s 0.01). The CON treatment groups lost an average of 8.2% BW during relocation (d -1 to 0) while the ACU and CHR treatments had a 2.5% increase in BW (P < 0.01). Haptoglobin increased numerically following transportation and relocation (P = 0.22). The BRSV (Ps 0.01) antibody titers were greatest for CON INT and CHRINT compared to CON SUB, ACUSUB, and CHRSUB (P s 0.03), and IBRV (P s 0.01) antibody titers were greater for ACUSUB, ACUINT, and CHRINT compared to CON SUB (P s 0.03). Water restriction prior to transport altered some hematological variables, and briefly reduced performance but did not clearly alter antibody responses to either vaccine type.