Bovine Respiratory Disease is the most costly and common disease of beef and dairy cattle. Strategic vaccination programs significantly reduce disease incidence and associated welfare suffering.
BRD causes significant animal suffering including fever, difficulty breathing, lethargy, and in severe cases, fatal pneumonia. Subclinical BRD causes chronic lung damage that impairs welfare throughout an animal's productive life. The sheer scale of BRD's impact - affecting millions of cattle annually - makes it one of the largest-scale animal welfare challenges in agriculture. Prevention through strategic vaccination, stress reduction, and early detection is both economically and ethically superior to treating established disease. Respiratory disease scoring systems help farm workers identify sick animals before they deteriorate severely.