Bovine Respiratory Disease Risk Reduction

from Bloodlines to FencelinesSusan Kerr and Don Llewellyn

WSU Extension, Animal Science, and Veterinary Medicine Extension

Team Members

• Dale Moore• Andrew Allen• John Wenz• Shannon

Neibergs• Tip Hudson• Curtis Beus• Sandy Poisson

• Sarah Smith• Don Nelson• Ram

Kasimanickam• Ed Field• Don Llewellyn• Susan Kerr

Funding Sources

• Sub-grant from “Integrated Program for Reducing Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC) in Beef and Dairy Cattle” Coordinated Agricultural Project, supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2011-68004-30367 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture ($9.7M, $10K sub-grant)

• Washington State University Extension Western Center for Risk Management Education ($52K)

Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex

• BRD is considered the most economically damaging disease of beef cattle

• Leading cause of death loss in beef cattle 29% of all calf losses

• BRD often follows stressful situations such as weaning and transportation

• BRD typically involves an infection with one of 4 viruses and a secondary bacterial infection

BRDC Pathogens

Viruses

• Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV)

• Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)

• Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD)

• Parainfluenza-3 Virus (PI-3)

Bacteria

• Pasturella multocida

• Histophilus somni

• Mannheimia hemolytica

• Mycoplasma bovis

Outputs

• BRD Cow-calf beef producer notebook• Project web site:

http://extension.wsu.edu/vetextension/brd • Eleven fact sheets and PowerPoint

presentations• Seven BRD educational workshops for

producers• Self-assessment and On-farm BRD risk assessment tools

http://www.brdcomplex.org/CowCalfBiosecurityCalculator/CowCalfBiosecuritycalculator.html

• Articles in trade magazines, Extension newsletters, Extension publications

Educational Module Topics Created

1. Managing the Pregnant Cow for Optimum Calf Health 2. Calving Management and Its Influence on Calf Health 3. Optimizing Calf Care to Reduce the Impact of BRD 4. Weaning Procedures to Reduce Stress and Minimize the Risk of

BRD 5. Cattle Handling to Minimize the Incidence of BRD 6. Effective Use of Vaccinations on Cow/Calf Operations to Reduce

BRD Incidence7. An Economic Review of Preconditioning Beef Calves to Reduce BRD

Incidence8. Management Approaches to Reduce Transportation Stress Risk for

BRD 9. Biosecurity on the Ranch to Reduce Risks for BRD 10.Feedback from Feeders - What Health Conditions Do They See in

Calves? 11.Documenting BRD Incidence and Animal Health Costs Associated

with BRD

Fact Sheets

Presentations

Do I need Biosecurity on the Ranch?

Module Example: Biosecurity

Cow Calf Herd

PurchasedLeased

Bulls

OutsideReplacement

Heifers

PurchasedCowsPurchased

Calves

PurchasedColostrum

Neighbor Herd (Cows and

Bulls)

Stocker

cattle

Wildlife

Visitors, Supplie

rsFeed

What are the risks for introducing disease?

How are BRDC disease agents transmitted?

• BRSV• IBR• PI-3• BVD

(Photo by E. Field)

What are the risks for transmitting disease between groups of animals on a

ranch?

• ID the different systems/groups/age classes• Purchased replacements represent risk

How do I reduce risk of introducing disease?

Reduce the risk of infected animals being introduced into a herd

Bring in animals from uninfected herds only Bring in animals from herds with a known effective

vaccination program only Avoid purchasing animals from sales barns Test new animals for persistent infections with BVD

and cull positive animals. Even short-term exposure to BVD-PI animals can increase the number of calves that become ill

Reducing Risk (cont’d)

Isolate new animals for 30 days before allowing contact with resident animals

Sanitize housing areas and cattle equipment to reduce pathogen build-up

Isolate sick animals because they are likely to shed pathogens in high numbers

Prevent contact with neighboring cattle of unknown infection status

Reduce stocking density

Preventing BRD disease agent transmission

Vaccination prior to exposure helps prevent development of disease after exposure to BRDC pathogens.

1. Nutritional Management

2. Calving Management

3. Vaccinations

4. Cattle Handling

5. Weaning Procedures

6. Biosecurity

Results of Producer Self Assessments(Practices of particular concern for increasing BRD risk.

Red font = responses reflecting higher risk practices or non-BMPs)

Question Yes No Don’t Know

Some

Are cows and replacement heifers vaccinated with a product containing IBR-PI3-BVD-BRSV before the start of breeding season?

69 12 12

If using a killed virus vaccine for cows and replacement heifers, do you booster in 2 to 4 weeks?

24 37 14

Are calves vaccinated against IBR-PI3-BVD-BRSV?

69 12 10

If using a killed virus vaccine for calves, do you booster in 2 to 4 weeks?

27 36 11

Are new cattle tested for BVD-PI status and negative?

29 15 39

Are incoming cattle isolated from the herd for a minimum of 14 days (30 is ideal)?

51 24

Do you wean calves at least 45 days before transporting to buyer or a feeding facility?

53 36 1

Do you process calves (vaccination, castration, ear tagging or branding) at weaning time?

31 61

Question Yes No Don’t Know

Some

Do you know the BVD-PI status of your herd? 36 55

Do your cattle have contact (fenceline, shared truck transport, shared grazing) with other cattle?

53 39

Do you ever bring any new cattle (cows, bulls, replacement heifers, feeders) to your premise?

71 20 1

Are cattle yet to calve moved to "clean ground" during the calving season?

56 36

Do you separate cow/calf pairs from those yet to calve during the calving season?

29 61

Have you tested any of your cattle to evaluate trace mineral status such as copper or selenium?

21 72

Do you have your forages tested for nutrient content?

42 49 2

Do you evaluate and record the body condition score of individual animals?

36 51

If protein/energy requirements aren’t being met, do you provide a protein supplement to cows and heifers in their last three months of pregnancy?

73/72

18/19

Do you use specific criteria to identify calves that may be sick and need to be evaluated?

60 32

Numbers

• Total attendance of meetings = 165• Total on-farm assessments completed as of 6/30/14 =

14• Average proportion of calf BRD for the 14 herds: 8.3%• Range of BDR calf incidence in calves for the 14 herds:

0-80%

Scholarship

• Posters:

• Peer-reviewed fact sheets• Project web sites:

http://extension.wsu.edu/vetextension/brd www.brdcomplex.org

Credits

Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding

race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Evidence of noncompliance may be

reported through your local Extension office.

This work is supported by a grant from the Western Center for Risk Management Education at

Washington State University and Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant

no. 2011-68004-30367 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture