Why Vaccines Are So Important For Your Animals

Many medications are available for treating diseases and other problems, such as worms, in livestock. But by far the most important treatment you can give your animals is vaccinations against the diseases that occur in your area. Shane Brody explains why vaccines are different to other medicines, and why they are so effective.

- Shane Brody

I receive many phone calls from communal farmers requesting help with sheep, goats or cattle that are ‘mysteriously dying’. My first question is: were the dead animals vaccinated beforehand?

The answer is often “Yes”. But when I ask a few more questions, I’m told that the livestock were ‘vaccinated’ with Ivermax, Ecomectin, or some other parasiticide.

While these are indeed important medicines that can be used to treat worms, mites, or sheep scab, they are not vaccines!

WHAT IS A VACCINE?

In very simple terms, a vaccine contains parts of the disease itself (albeit rendered harmless), and this enables the body to develop an immune response.

Put another way, the vaccine helps the body to produce antibodies ‘trained’ to identify a pathogen and act against it.