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Beef Cattle Research Update

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BEEF CATTLE RESEARCH UPDATE Britt Hicks, Ph.D., PASArea Extension Livestock SpecialistOklahoma Panhandle Research & Extension CenterMarch 2019 Effects of Vaccination Timing on Performance, Antibody Response, and Health in Feedlot Cattle The bovine respiratory disease (BRD) complex is the most is the most devastating health problem of the beef industry. 1, 2 It is the primary cause of morbidity (70%–80%) and mortality (40%–50%) in feedlots in the United States and continues to contribute to substantial losses in feedlot performance, health, and carcass quality. 3 A 2011 USDA survey of U.S. feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head indicated that most feedlots vaccinated cattle and that the most common vaccinations administered were for the prevention of BRD.4 As a percentage of all feedlots, 96.6% vaccinated for bovine viral diarrhea and 93.7% vaccinated for infectious bovine rhino-tracheitis (IBR), while 89.1% vaccinated for bovine respiratory syncytial virus and 85.1% vaccinated for parainfluenza-3 virus. It is widely accepted that vaccination of healthy calves for respiratory pathogens is important for preventing BRD and maintaining optimal calf health. Hence, most feedlot receiving protocols include vaccination against BRD viruses for high-risk cattle within 48 hours of arrival. However, research suggest that vaccine efficacy is reduced when administered to highly stressed animals since immune function can temporarily be compromised. Weaning, marketing, and shipment of feeder cattle to feedlots are major stressors to cattle.5 For these reasons, altering the time of vaccination against BRD has been investigated as an approach to enhance vaccine efficacy, immunity to BRD, and […]

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AIP in the Feedlot

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AIP in the Feedlot AIP is the acronym for Acute (or Atypical) Interstitial Pneumonia. This disease is known by various different names over the years, such as Acute Bovine Pulmonary Emphysema and Edema, Bovine Asthma, Feedlot Dust Pneumonia, Fog Fever and the list goes on.     It is a primary respiratory disease that leads to severe edema and emphysema of the lung tissue that leads to death in the majority of cases. This is documented to be the second most important respiratory disease affecting feedlot cattle. The financial impact of AIP can be significant, since it normally affects cattle in the finishing stage of their feeding period, animals which by that time increased in value to the producer due to increased weight – the result of various costly inputs. Outside the feedlot setting, AIP is reported (often as outbreaks) on lush green pastures and fermented crops. Especially when moving animals from low quality roughage, to high quality pasture that have high protein levels. With a sudden increase in protein levels, L-Tryptophan (a common amino acid/or protein building block) is converted to 3-Methylindole (3-MI) in the rumen by bacterial species such Lactobacillus. 3-MI is then readily absorbed through the rumen into the bloodstream, and when it reaches the lungs it gets converted to 3-Methyleneindolenine (3-ME) and this molecule is then responsible for causing the damage to the lungs seen in AIP.  The above description is accepted as the etiology for Fog Fever. In the feedlot setting however, there are no […]

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