Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most costly and welfare-significant disease of feedlot cattle, but vaccination programmes and management interventions can dramatically reduce its incidence and severity.
BRD causes significant suffering: affected cattle experience fever, dyspnea, pleuritis (painful lung inflammation), and profound lethargy. Animals with chronic BRD that survive acute disease may have permanent lung damage that impairs their ability to breathe adequately, reducing welfare throughout the remainder of their lives. Early detection and treatment is central to welfare management — cattle that receive prompt antibiotic therapy early in the disease course have better welfare outcomes and lower mortality than those treated later. Prevention through vaccination reduces the number of animals that suffer from the disease in the first place. Stress reduction at weaning, transport, and processing — through low-stress handling techniques and environmental management — reduces the immunosuppression that allows BRD pathogens to establish infection.