University Products Helps Embattled Cattle Ranchers Forced to Sell Herds During Current Inflation Siege; Offers Fixed Price Anaplasmosis Vaccine for Inevitable Seasonal Cattle Illness

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Feb 01, 2023, 08:44 ET

'Corn and diesel prices are already through the roof, so the last thing farmers need now is rising medicine costs too. We've kept our vaccine at the same price for the past five years…'

BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- University Products LLC offered an important lifeline to cattle ranchers currently battling both rising feed prices and surges in fuel and other expenses due to widespread global inflation. After a full year of contending with soaring feed/fuel/medicine costs and brutal summer droughts, ranchers are looking for any sign of relief. Fortunately, University Products announced that vaccinating herds against the inevitable tide of upcoming seasonal anaplasmosis infections is one expense that has not increased.

University Products produces the only effective vaccine against anaplasmosis that is approved for experimental use and has been successfully deployed in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and South America for over two decades. And in an effort to remain affordable and accessible to ranchers across the globe, University Products has kept their vaccine costs at the same rate for over five years.

"We all know that inflation is felt most keenly in the fuel and food production delivery chains," said Dr. Donald Luther, University Products vaccine developer. "Inflation is an old enemy of farmers and ranchers who are no stranger to having to contend with what the market sends their way. But the past year or so has been particularly harsh. This financial assault on all fronts has even forced many cattle ranchers to sell off herds just to stay afloat. And while beef production and prices are temporarily up due to these selloffs, that increase in price goes mostly to the big corporate meatpackers. Not to the ranchers themselves."

"Another expense coming up, one that is absolutely unavoidable, is seasonal protection against old enemies like endemic anaplasmosis," explained Dr. Luther. "From testing kits, diagnosis, quarantines, and sustained and costly symptom treatment through increasingly ineffective antibacterial-feed therapies, the ongoing anaplasmosis problem costs ranchers hundreds of millions in revenue every year – reaching 'critical impact levels in many regions' across the U.S. and driving up average cow culling rates by 30% or more."

"Our anaplasmosis vaccine is a purified antigen of the organism that actually causes the problem in cattle: A. marginale," Dr. Luther said. "Rather than traditional approaches like fighting infection after it happens with antibiotics, our vaccine contains the organism that has been inactivated so it cannot infect cells and replicate, but can still trigger an immune response. And it is especially important to vaccinate against this specific organism, while keeping up with yearly booster shots. Infected cows continue to be disease vectors – acting as reservoirs of infected blood for both insects and poorly cleaned needles used on the cattle. Anaplasmosis is endemic. That's just a fact. Which is why we tell our clients truthfully: the only safe herd is a fully vaccinated herd. So we're happy to help them be able to afford to do that."

About University Products LLC

The University Products vaccine does not prevent infection, but when properly used, significantly reduces clinical signs in at-risk animals. The vaccine requires only two doses in the first year, with one annual booster each year thereafter and is safe to use in any stage of bovine pregnancy. A detailed description of the vaccine and its method of administration is publicly available for PDF download.

For more information on the University Products vaccine, with availability for farmers and producers, please instruct veterinarians to contact Dr. Luther directly by email at [email protected].

*Facts and statistics sourced from:

Media Contact:

Don Luther, Director
1-225-334-0851
[email protected]

SOURCE University Products