Bovine respiratory disease is the leading cause of sickness and death in beef feedlots; prevention through management and vaccination delivers major welfare benefits.
BRD causes significant suffering — fever, pleuritis, and respiratory distress cause pain, lethargy, and anorexia in affected animals. Early detection and treatment within 24 hours of first signs dramatically improves outcomes and reduces suffering duration. Prevention through vaccination (modified live viral vaccines for IBR, BVD, PI3, BRSV before or at arrival) and management practices that minimize transport and mixing stress reduces incidence. Individual animal monitoring using wearable sensors that detect reduced movement and ear temperature changes allows earlier identification of sick animals before severe disease develops. From a stewardship perspective, vaccination-based prevention is preferable to metaphylaxis because it reduces antibiotic use while also benefiting animal welfare.