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Keep Scouring Calves Hydrated

Producers understand neonatal calf diarrhea is a problem on their farms. National Animal Health Monitoring System data from 2007 reported an average calf mortality of 8% annually, with scours as the leading cause of death in unweaned calves at 56.5%. Most causes of scours are preventable. However, the infectious causes of neonatal diarrhea are typically bacteria, viruses or protozoa. Other noninfectious causes that may contribute to neonatal diarrhea are:
 
■ poor-quality colostrum
 
■ poor sanitation
 
■ stress
 
■ inadequate ventilation
 
■ adverse weather conditions
 

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Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.