Novel Vaccination Approach Enhances Worker Safety

Sep 30, 2019

A novel approach to vaccinating sows, gilts and their piglets offers a new method of preventing disease that is safer for barn workers. Researchers with VIDO-InterVac are exploring the effectiveness of administering vaccine directly into the uterus of the pig during artificial insemination.

Dr. Heather Wilson, a research scientist with the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, says, because most of the important swine diseases impact reproduction or newborn piglets, the idea was to develop a vaccine to target the uterus to immunize the mom, who could then deliver passive immunity to her babies through her colostrum.

Clip-Dr. Heather Wilson-Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization:

What we're hoping is that we can show that, instead of giving a needle vaccine to sows or gilts, they're very strong animals, they're kind of dangerous and any time we can remove a needle, it's a good thing for the safety for the barn personnel. If we can show administering a vaccine during artificial insemination, delivering it to the uterus, gives a very good immune response.

We can show people how safe it is, then we would hope to communicate that to the veterinarians, to the pig barns and maybe change the whole way that vaccination takes place for reproductive infectious diseases. Initially we are targeting the pig industry but we would like to look at any other animals that use AI.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.