Dr. Larry Judge
While in graduate school I attended a two-week seminar taught by a human epidemiologist. He explained some would say contributing causes had to add up to 100 percent before disease occurred; he disagreed. He believed each contributing cause of disease needed to reach 100 percent of its own accord before disease could occur. If that's the case, reducing the impact of any single cause of disease translates into the reduction of all disease incidence.
It's understood that most diseases are multifactorial - it takes several factors all working together before disease occurs. That leads to the question of which factor should be addressed first.
Respiratory disease in young cattle is caused by many different types of bacteria and viruses. Each of those pathogens has unique factors but there are also many commonalities among them.
It's a rare cattle farm that hasn't experienced at least some level of calfhood pneumonia - a dairy raising replacement heifers, a beef producer raising calves on milk or an enterprise purchasing young feeders. Calfhood respiratory disease can - and often does - cause severe chronic damage that affects the animal's health and future productivity. That includes weight gain and-or milk production. The increased use of ultrasound to assess lung damage in growing calves has revealed that fairly extreme levels of disease can be present even when the calf externally appears to be normal and healthy. That reinforces the concept that clinical disease that's visibly detectable is just the tip of the iceberg, with more disease lurking out of sight.
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It makes sense to prioritize ventilation and air quality when mitigating respiratory disease in youngstock. Those issues can be addressed by opening buildings more regularly, adding fans - either with or without tubes - or by decreasing animal density. Cleaning pens more often also improves air quality by removing compounds such as urea that reduce air quality and irritate animal respiratory passages. Keeping bedded cattle areas clean and freshly bedded will help ensure haircoats stay dry, reducing heat loss and directing more energy to the immune system. Air movement inside animal buildings is also important.
A second priority to assess is the vaccination program. Vaccines can be considered an "insurance policy" for cattle. Just like insurance needs to be tailored to mitigate the risks one may confront in life, cattle vaccines must match the risks cattle face as they grow and transition through a farm's facilities. Vaccines can't be purchased and administered after disease has occurred - that's too late. There's no single program that fits all farms because different pathogens affect cattle at different times on different farms. Therefore a vaccination program should be designed for animals to receive vaccines at least two weeks prior to when a disease strike is anticipated. Consulting with a veterinarian who has experience working with a variety of farms can greatly improve a farm's "insurance plan" to help decrease respiratory disease. That will improve herd performance and future productivity.
There are several other areas that are important in reducing respiratory disease. But perhaps the most important risk factor - and often the most overlooked - is nutrition. That includes the most frequently ignored nutrient - water. Too often there aren't enough water sources for the number of animals, or they're dirty or difficult for calves to access.
Insufficient amounts of protein being fed to young cattle is another problem. That's true especially at weaning when producers tend to reduce protein levels in calf feed. That results in a double whammy - milk feeding has ended while protein content in solid feed is simultaneously reduced. And that's at a time when disease risk is greatest.
The key is to focus on mitigating respiratory disease when it's not at its most prevalent - such as in mid-summer and mid-winter. That will help reduce disease during spring and fall, when respiratory-disease risk is greatest.
Dr. Larry Judge is the Professional Services Veterinarian at Armor Animal Health, a PDP corporate sponsor. Email [email protected] to contact him.
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