Calf enteritis vaccines in cattle

Calf enteritis, or calf scour, is a common problem found on most cattle farms in the UK. It can be a major cause of poor growth and calf mortality.  

The severity of the disease depends upon the protection that a calf receives from colostrum within the first six hours of life.

Several vaccines have been developed to actively immunise cattle against pathogens, which commonly cause calf enteritis, to boost serological and colostral antibody production.

The antibodies in colostrum provide passive immunity to the newborn calf.

The cost of a calf scour outbreak is estimated to be £58 per calf (ADAS, 2012).

Eight vaccines for calf enteritis have been marketed in the UK:

• Bovigen Scour contains inactivated E. coli and inactivated Rotavirus and Bovine Coronavirus
• DiarrVac RCE contains inactivated Rotavirus, inactivated Bovine Coronavirus and inactivated E. coli 
• Fencovis contains inactivated E. coli, inactivated Rotavirus and inactivated Bovine Coronavirus
• Lactovac contained inactivated E. coli and inactivated Rotavirus and Bovine Coronavirus
• Bovilis® Rotavec® Corona Emulsion contains inactivated E. coli F5 and inactivated Rotavirus and Bovine Coronavirus
• Trivacton 6 contained E. coli and inactivated Rotavirus and Bovine Coronavirus
• Bovilis Cryptium® contains Cryptium parvum glycoprotein
• Rotacur contains inactivated E. coli and inactivated Rotavirus and Bovine Coronavirus

The figures used to monitor estimated vaccine uptake are the number of doses of selected vaccines authorised for use in cattle and sheep sold in the UK each year.

These are based on wholesaler data collated by Kynetec and provided by MSD Animal Health.

Numerator

The number of doses of vaccine administered has been calculated by multiplying the number of packs sold by the number of doses per pack.

It was assumed that each pregnant animal received one dose per year.

Denominator

It was assumed that only female breeding animals were vaccinated and that these vaccines would only be given to pregnant female breeding cattle.

As most cattle calve down after 24 months and the vaccine is given in late pregnancy, only female cattle over two years of age were included in the calculation.

To take into account the use of vaccines with a two dose primary course to be completed before the first calving, the proportion of female cattle aged 1–2 years in the previous year were assumed to be the eligible population within the number of female breeding cattle >2 years of age, and were multiplied by two.

Boosters for these vaccines were attributed to the population of female breeding cattle aged >2 years, minus the cattle aged 1–2years in the prior year.

For vaccines with a single primary course dose, the denominator was all female breeding animals aged >2 years. It was assumed that each pregnant animal should receive one or two doses in the first year, followed by one dose per pregnancy thereafter.

An update to the assumption was made for the 2025 report and has been applied across all years of the report to take into account the current and historic use of calf enteritis vaccines with a 2-dose primary course.

The corresponding change in estimated uptake across years compared to the 2024 report has been minimal (at or below a 1% decrease).

The uptake of calf enteritis vaccines is the lowest among all the categories of cattle vaccine in this report.

However, in 2025, estimated vaccine uptake was 29% (up from 26% in 2024), which is the highest it has ever been, demonstrating a continued increase in uptake (Figure 1).

It is recognised that within this category, some cattle may receive more than one vaccine due to the different diseases which are covered, and so the estimated uptake may be an overestimate.

Figure 1. Percentage of cattle vaccinated against calf enteritis 2011–2025