Cost-Benefit of BVD Vaccinations

Beef cattle producers can use the following BVD Vaccination Cost-Benefit Calculator to evaluate the costs, benefits and risks of different bovine viral diarrhea virus vaccination and outbreak scenarios.

BVD Vaccination Cost-Benefit Calculator

Step 1. Producer Information

Cow Herd Size (head)
Weaning Weight (lbs)
Expected Calf Price ($/lb)

Expected Cow Price ($/lb)
Cow Weight (lbs)
Expected Price for Replacement Heifers ($/head)
Cost of vaccine dose ($/dose)
Labour to administer vaccine ($/head)

Instructions:

Step 1: Enter information in the yellow-shaded cells. It is suggested to keep the blue-shaded cell as the set defaults unless data is known.

Step 2: Scroll down to see Result Summary Charts.

Step 3: Scroll right to see the Decision Making Flow Chart comparing the results.

Check out the resources under Learn More

Assumptions

Typical prevalence of abortion from BVD for vaccinated cows: 6%

Unvaccinated cows could have abortion rates ranging from 6.7% to 58.9% and averaging 20%*

* Estimated based on typical prevalence of abortion from BVD at 6%, using the odds ratio and confident intervals. Odd ratio for abortion when unvaccinated cow in community pasture vs. vaccinated cow sourced from Theurer et al., 2015.

Notes:

While it is recognized that a BVD outbreak at a cow-calf operation could also cause calf death loss, and BVD vaccination could postively affect pregnancy rates, there is no suitable data (that is statistically significant) to include in this analysis.

Step 2. Result Summary

Sources:

Theurer, M. E., Larson, R. L., & White, B. J. (2015). Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of commercially available vaccines against bovine herpesvirus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine respiratory syncytial virus, and parainfluenza type 3 virus for mitigation of bovine respiratory disease complex in cattle. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 246(1), 126-142.

Dr. Nathan Erickson and Kathy Larson, Cost-Benefit Comparison of BRD and BVD Vaccinations

* Potential Saving = Potential Loss – Total Investment in Vaccination

Step 3. Flow Chart

Did you vaccinate for Bovine Viral Disease (BVD)? What will happen to a herd with 300 cows?

Yes

Your vaccine investment is /head, if you include your labour and the vaccine shot.

No

You’ve saved some money and time here because you haven’t vaccinated. But then you may get a BVD outbreak.

Best Case Scenario:

You don’t have an outbreak

You have an outbreak.

Some cows still get sick. ~6% of your cows abort calves

Best Case Scenario: You don’t have an outbreak

Average Case: 20% of your cows abort calves

Worst Case Scenario: 59% abort

None of your cows abort due to BVD

4 head of your cows abort due to BVD

None of your cows abort due to BVD

60 head of your cows abort due to BVD

177 head of your cows abort due to BVD

You haven’t lost anything

Your fross loss is or /head

You haven’t lost anything

Your fross loss is or /head

Your fross loss is or /head

You haven’t lost anything

There’s a net loss of or /head

You haven’t lost anything

There’s a net loss of or /head

There’s a net loss of or /head

Your vaccine investment is or /head

Total loss: or /head

Remember: BVD virus is widespread and most herds are at risk for infection.

Total loss: or /head

Total loss: or /head