Immune response during the onset of coliform mastitis in dairy cows vaccinated with STARTVAC®

The immune response during the onset of coliform mastitis in vaccinated cows was investigated by measuring lactoferrin (LF), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and interleukin-1β (IL- 1β) concentrations and somatic cell counts in 28 milk samples at the onset of acute coliform mastitis (ACM) and 73 milk samples at the onset of peracute coliform mas- titis (PCM). Vaccinated ACM, unvaccinated ACM, and vaccinated PCM showed sig- nificantly higher values for LF and IL-1β levels than unvaccinated PCM (p < .01). The IL-8 concentration was lower in vaccinated PCM than in unvaccinated PCM (p < .05). There was no significant difference in somatic cell counts for each parameter. There were no significant differences in the parameters between vaccinated and unvac- cinated ACM cows, or vaccinated ACM and PCM cows. From the above results, it is suggested that mastitis vaccination improved the early immune response, particu- larly at the onset of PCM, and played a large role in host defense against the initial infection.