SenseHub® Dairy collars help alert farmer during a Salmonella disease outbreak. The ability to manage their farm business proactively with more accurate information was a key
driver for Louise and Tony Collingwood when they made the decision to invest in SenseHub® Dairy
collars. They own two dairy farms in the Otorohanga area; their home farm, was the first to try
SenseHub® Dairy collars and their newer farm, Hakin, followed 2 months later.

The Collingwoods’ decision to expand the use of collars to Hakin was endorsed further when
transitioning the herd to dry off, following their first milking season. Varying rumination rates
resulted in the farm manager receiving a few health alerts via the collars. Louise recalls “On
inspection one cow was not well and was scouring, quickly followed by two more sick and scouring
cows”. The vet sent samples for analysis and the cows were started on a course of antibiotics. By
the time the lab results confirmed Salmonella there were more cows displaying symptoms and they too started their antibiotic treatment.

“Because the cows were dry and weren’t coming to the shed daily, we were unable to observe normal signs of sickness, of going off their milk etc. With the collar’s health alerts, we were able to
pick up sub clinicals or cows just getting sick before we would have without the collars,” said
Louise. “If we had been relying on eye to pick up sick cows, further cases with more advanced
salmonella would have been the result. After being picked up early the cows responded well to
antibiotics and it minimised further health issues such as weight loss and abortion.”

As the Hakin herd was newly formed and the vaccination status of the herd was unknown their vet
recommended vaccinating the whole herd against Salmonella. As a result, the herd was vaccinated
with Salvexin®+B and followed up four weeks later with a second (booster) shot.

“In the end the outbreak cost us a reasonable amount, we lost 6 cows and had several slips out of
the 470-cow herd. I also fell sick, even though I wore gloves and followed good hygiene practices”
Louise said. “It was fortunate the outbreak occurred when we were dried off and not milking or
calving, as the outbreak was a lot easier to manage during the dry period”.

Going forward, the Collingwoods say they will follow their vet’s recommendation to vaccinate
annually with Salvexin®+B to protect against Salmonella. “This will ensure good protection not only
to the animals but also our farm team.”

With respect to SenseHub® Dairy collars Louise says “the benefit of the collars is they give us
more information to keep an eye on our farms. The collars give us better insights to help us manage
these unplanned for events and gives our farm team better insights into cow health, and that can
only be a good thing.”

The monitoring products referenced here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease in animals. For the diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevention of disease in animals, you should consult your veterinarian. The accuracy of the data collected and presented through this product is not intended to match that of medical devices or scientific measurement devices. AVAILABLE ONLY UNDER VETERINARY AUTHORISATION. ACVM No: A007886. Schering-Plough Animal Health Ltd. Ph: 0800 800 543. www.msd-animal-health.co.nz © 2024 Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and its affiliates. All rights reserved. NZ-SHB-241000003