01/08/09 Air injection

A new procedure may benefit "scaredy-cat" cattle. I'm Jeff Kane; I'll be right back to tell you all about it. A different technique to administer vaccinations may help cattle that are sensitive to needle delivery methods. The Pulse Needle Free injection system uses pneumatic pressure to shoot a pre-measured dose of vaccine through an animal's skin without, of course, using a needle. Researchers at Kansas State University tested the technique using an IBR viral vaccine and mannheimia haemolytica bacterin/luekotoxoid. One hundred eleven steers were randomly sorted into two groups with one group receiving the vaccinations by the air pressure system while the other group was vaccinated using a traditional needle administration. Blood samples were taken from the steers at the start of the test and then 21 days later. Antibody titers were higher for both vaccinations in cattle receiving the inoculant by the needle-free system. After one year of use at Hy-Plains feedlot near Montezuma, Kansas, co-owner Tom Jones says the method reduces the possibility of transferring diseases between animals, reduces injection-site abscesses and inflammation, helps assure worker safety by eliminating needles, and since cattle rarely react to the needle-free injection he feels cattle stress is minimized. I sure would have liked to try the needle-free system when we were run down the working chute and got our vaccinations in grade school. I'm Jeff Keane. Drovers December 15, 2008