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Healthier cows with fewer cases of mastitis, metritis, and respiratory disease
Lower vet and treatment costs
Improved fertility and longevity, keeping cows in your herd longer
More profit, with gains that build every generation
By monitoring immunity in your herd, you’re not just treating disease — you’re preventing it.
BIRD FLU – H5N1
How Immunity+® Helps Fight Avian Influenza- Mount a quicker and more effective immune response when exposed to new viruses.
- Have lower infection severity and duration.
- Respond better to vaccines, including flu-type vaccines.
- In a herd exposed to something like bird flu (either directly or indirectly through contact vectors), Immunity+ animals handle the exposure better, showing fewer clinical symptoms and reduced viral shedding, which helps limit the spread within the herd.
- Estimated Cost of Avian Influenza:
$950 - Dependent on the incidence % in the herd and length of outbreak
- Dependent on milk loss and removal/culling
- Milk production drop accounted for ~92.3% of the total economic losses
- Deaths, treatment/labor, and culling made up the rest (www.americandairyman.com)
Immunity+ & Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza(HPAI) H5N1 has recently spilled over into U.S. dairy cattle, creating a new and complex challenge for herd health, milk production, and overall farm profitability. Cows affected by HPAI H5N1 often experience reduced feed intake and rumination, respiratory symptoms, lethargy, and abrupt drops in milk yield that may last from several days to multiple weeks.
Estimated Cost of HPAI H5N1 in Dairy Herds
HPAI H5N1 outbreaks introduce significant and often hidden costs, including:
- Milk Production Loss
- Abrupt declines in yield lasting days to weeks
- Average yield losses of 5.7%, translating to an estimated $504 per affected cow
- Individual losses can reach 22% or as much as $950 per clinically affected cow
- Increased Veterinary Care
- Supportive treatments
- Higher treatment rates in cows with more severe clinical signs
- Potential follow-up care to manage secondary infections
- Labor Demands
- Additional time during milking for affected cows
- Sorting and separating sick cows
- Increased clinical monitoring
How Immunity+ Helps Cows Fight HPAI H5N1
- Enhanced Immune Responsiveness to Viral Infection
- Cows with high Immunity+ GEBVs exhibit stronger antibody and cell-mediated immune responses. During HPAI H5N1 infection, this improved immunity provides several advantages:
- Faster recognition of viral antigen
- More efficient activation of antiviral defenses
- Better control of fever and systemic inflammation
- More precise immune regulation and faster return to homeostasis
- Shorter duration and reduced severity of clinical signs
- Reduced Need for Supportive Treatment
- Across 15,386 cows from six U.S. dairies with confirmed HPAI H5N1 outbreaks:
- Cows with high Immunity+ GEBVs were 24% less likely to require supportive treatment compared to low-GEBV herd mates.
- This demonstrates that high-immunity animals:
- Are more resilient
- Maintain better physiological stability during infection
- Require fewer interventions, reducing both cost and labor
- Smaller Milk Production Losses During Infection
- Daily milk data from 650 cows show clear differences in recovery:
- Among treated cows, those with low Immunity+ GEBVs lost an average of 134 kg more milk during infection recovery than high-immunity cows.
- High-immunity cows:
- Rebounded faster
- Maintained more stable lactation curves
- Were less likely to experience prolonged production suppression
- These differences translate directly into measurable economic advantages for herds using Immunity+ genetics.
Summary
Semex’s Immunity+ helps herds withstand HPAI H5N1 by breeding cows with stronger, more effective immune responses. High-immunity cows are less likely to need treatment, suffer smaller milk losses, recover faster, and exhibit greater overall resilience during viral outbreaks.
As emerging diseases continue to challenge the dairy sector, Immunity+ provides a sustainable, genetic solution to protect herd health, secure milk production, and strengthen long-term farm profitability.
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