Changes in Ruminoreticular Temperature and Body Activity After Akabane Vaccination in Pregnant Hanwoo (Bos taurus coreanae)

Abstract Background: Akabane disease causes life-threatening deformities in newborn calves, such as arthrogryposis and hydranencephaly syndrome. Early vaccination is currently being done in some countries to prevent Akabane disease prior to breeding age, but no data have been reported on changes in body temperature and activity following vaccination. Therefore, this study aims to investigate changes in ruminoreticular temperature and body activity according to vaccination using biosensors. Results: In this study, ruminoreticular temperature and body activity measurements were collected every 10 min from 110 cows (40 pregnant cows, 70 non-pregnant cows) using the biocapsule sensor. Ruminoreticular temperature increased from 6 h to about 16 h after Akabane vaccination. In particular, the frequency of maintaining a high temperature (>40 °C) after vaccination was 16.4% higher among pregnant cows than among non-pregnant cows. Conclusions: Therefore, biosensors can be used to predict fever caused by the Akabane vaccine in real-time through changes in ruminoreticular temperature and body activity after the Akabane vaccination, which can help the veterinarian's examination and predict miscarriage and stillbirth.