The brucellosis question

The issue of certain vaccinations being introduced into the South African market is a point of serious concern. This is an open letter with no commercial or vindictive approach towards a specific product or its vendor. After five years of receiving a clean report on brucellosis, I got the shock of my life in 2011 when, out of the blue, about 50% of my herd tested positive for brucellosis.

After a careful look into the numbers listed on that dreadful report, it appeared to be a mixed bag, from pregnant cows with suckling calves to non-pregnant cows to young heifers (first time mating). All heifers at the age of seven months are inoculated with OBP-S19 and again a month later with RB51 which brings me to eight months (the prescribed allowed age to inoculate heifers).

The other major shock to me was when I insisted that the bulls get tested and some of my learned friends in the veterinary sphere said it was not necessary. But three bulls tested positive! It is well documented that bulls do not transfer brucellosis to cows during mating…is it really so or just a test with a product sale in mind?

These questions must be asked:

1. Do stud breeders test the bulls before an auction, or is the health certificate issued without this being a compulsory test?
2. The RB51 covers strain 1 and, as far as I can remember, strain 1 does not occur in South Africa, only strain 19. If so, then why is this product being used? 
3. Are we not introducing a strain that will come back to bite us? 
4. How do we treat bulls? 
5. Is the OBP-S19 product still working? 
6. Many commercial herds are infected by brucellosis but they remain productive. So why should we concern ourselves with the clean status? 
7. Is there any financial advantage for presenting a brucellosis calf to the feedlot or to the abattoir? But if this presents a national threat then we’d better get our ducks in a row. 

I have many more questions but I guess this is sufficient to start the discussion. I feel we need to produce a safe and healthy product for the SA market within a commercially viable model.