Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most costly cattle disease in the US. Understanding its causes and prevention strategies protects calf and feedlot welfare.
BRD causes significant suffering in affected cattle including fever, difficulty breathing, and the distress of acute infection in a stressful new environment. Cattle with pneumonia experience hypoxia from compromised lung tissue and the systemic effects of bacterial infection. Inadequate or delayed treatment allows disease to progress to irreversible lung damage affecting future quality of life and productivity. Chronic BRD cases show persistent respiratory compromise that impairs welfare long after acute treatment. The strong link between management stress and disease makes BRD a welfare problem that extends beyond treatment to prevention through husbandry improvement.