A LIVESTOCK VACCINE PRIMER

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In practice, all the viruses used to provide active immunization have been weakened in some manner, to assure that the recipients of the medication will contract only very mild cases of the disease ( if the animals are healthy to begin with) while building up a long-lasting immunity. Therefore, the viruses are most often either already killed . .. or living, but attenuated (cycled through an alternative host or culture until their virulence is substantially lessened) when they are used in a vaccine.

As far as you — the homestead animal raiser — are concerned, though, it's best to let the professional "vaccinologists" worry about which medicines are best made from dead or attenuated (also called MLV, for modified live virus) cultures. Your own vet can help you choose the best treatment for your particular animal and geographic area.

(One last variety of active vaccine that you'll sometimes hear mentioned is a toxoid. Like antitoxins, such remedies combat the toxins of a bacteria rather than battling the virus itself. But, unlike those passive medicines, a toxoid helps an animal develop its own poison-beating ability.)

DEVISING YOUR OWN VACCINATION PROGRAM

There are eight important rules that anyone who's planning to set up a vaccination plan for his or her livestock should follow:

[1] Make sure newborn critters get their mother's first milk. The passive immunity given to a baby animal from its mother's colostrum is vital to the youngster's well-being. (And you can insure that Mom will have a high level of resistance to pass on to her babies if you make certain she is both healthy and well vaccinated before she gives birth.)

[2] Develop immunity with a series of vaccines. The newborn's hand-me-down defenses won't last forever, so you should plan to treat each young beast to help it develop an active set of disease-fighting antibodies. In order to accomplish such a goal, you'll need to give the animals a series of two or three shots (or oral medicines) spaced several weeks apart.

The first dose of vaccine will provide any early immunities that might be needed. The second and following shots, on the other hand, will make sure that any resistance-stimulators that may have been inactivated by the maternally given antibodies will have another opportunity to be effective.

[3] Give periodic boosters. Most vaccines need to be repeated periodically. Some (leptospirosis, for example) should be administered every six months . . . others — including several rabies vaccines — last for two or three years ... but, as a rule, the medicines should be readministered on an annual basis.

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