Disease resilience in cattle, the ability to maintain health and welfare when exposed to pathogens, can be improved through genetics, nutrition, management, and vaccination, reducing the welfare burden of disease.
Building disease resilience addresses the root causes of welfare compromise rather than managing symptoms. A cow with strong immune competence from good colostrum management, balanced nutrition, and low stress environments is less likely to suffer from mastitis, pneumonia, or metabolic disease. The welfare dividend of resilience-focused management is reduced duration and severity of illness across the whole herd, not just treatment of individual sick animals.