Daniel U Thomson | PubMed Health

PubMed2006

Backgrounding beef cattle.

Stocker operations differ significantly in management techniques and health programs. Critical control points should be identified for each farm and used to ascertain the biggest areas for potential improvement so as to allow proper allocation of resources. A customized wellness program couples medicine and management to minimize the negative impact of disease. A complete program involves animal selection, disease prevention, and management. Calves should be evaluated and classified into appropriate risk categories regarding treatment, management, and performance expectations. Disease prevention strategies should involve increasing immune responses while decreasing pathogen exposure and stress in cattle. Disease management includes the methods used to minimize the impact of illness on the population

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed2005

Prevalence, outcome, and health consequences associated with persistent infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus in feedlot cattle.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence of cattle persistently infected (PI) with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) at arrival at a feedlot, prevalence of chronically ill and dead PI cattle, and the magnitude of excess disease attributable to a PI animal. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and cohort studies. ANIMALS: 2,000 cattle at the time they arrived at a feedlot, 1,383 chronically ill cattle from 7 feedlots, and 1,585 dead cattle from a single feedlot. PROCEDURE: Skin biopsy specimens were collected and evaluated via immunohistochemistry. Cattle were characterized as either PI or not PI with BVDV on the basis of characteristic immunostaining. Follow-up was obtained for the 2,000 cattle from which samples were collected at arrival, and health outcomes were determined for cattle exposed and not exposed to a PI animal. RESULTS: Prevalence of PI cattle was 0.3% at arrival, 2.6% in chronically ill cattle, and 2.5% in dead cattle. Risk of initial treatment for respiratory tract disease was 43% greater in cattle exposed to a PI animal, compared with those not exposed to a PI animal. Overall, 15.9% of initial respiratory tract disease events were attributable to exposure to a PI animal. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Relatively few PI cattle arrive at feedlots. However, those cattle are more likely to require treatment for respiratory tract disease and either become chronically ill or die than cattle that are not PI. In addition, they are associated with an increase in the incidence of respiratory tract disease of in-contact cattle.

Animals↗