Coccidosis

Bovine respiratory disease, or BRD, is the most prevalent and significant health problem facing cattle today.  According to report released by USDA in 2006, BRD now accounts for more than 28 percent of the non-predator deaths of cattle.  And the problem is getting worse. 

BRD is particularly costly in feedlots and other confinement situations, where an estimated two-thirds of death losses are attributed to the disease.  Half of the animals that succumb to BRD never show any visible signs of infection.  Those that do survive without therapy show poor performance and are usually culled from herds long before their time.

BRD does more than kill cattle and impede performance, however. It often requires producers to invest heavily in medications and labor to treat sick animals.  And, because multiple disease agents are usually involved with BRD, there’s not always a quick fix available. 

Several forms of BRD can be found in today’s herds.  Infections can be found in the upper respiratory tract — nostrils, throat, and windpipe. More serious infections occur in the lower respiratory tract or lungs, including shipping fever.  Diphtheria (larynx) may occur alone or in combination with these infections.

The causes of BRD are multiple and complex, but stress, viral infection and bacterial infection are almost always involved in cases of severe disease. A wide variety of different stressors and agents — heat, Pasteurella, dust weather, fatigue and dehydration, to name a few — may be involved in the BRD process.

The most common signs of BRD include:

• Nasal and eye discharges
• Coughing
• Fever
• Decreased appetite
• Varying degrees of breathing difficulty and noise
• Rapid breathing
• Depression
• Droopy ears
• Open-mouthed breathing
• Death

These symptoms vary greatly, depending on the stage and extent of the disease process.

Early disease detection will go a long way toward successful treatment, but this is often easier said than done because many infected cattle do not show outward signs. 

Vaccination is effective in some circumstances, as long as there is ample time to build immunity while the challenge is at hand.

Metaphylactic programs — that is, mass treatments of large groups of cattle suspected to be harboring BRD — may be effective if animals show symptoms. Often these programs require rounding up cattle, running them through a chute and using injectable antibiotics. This process can further stress animals.  There’s also the risk of injuries and injection-site abscesses. 

Providing a broad-spectrum antibiotic in the feed, particularly in starter and receiving diets, is a convenient way to stay ahead of BRD pathogens.  This practice recently became even more feasible when FDA cleared the way for a new antibiotic combination that allows producers to treat BRD and coccidiosis in the same feed.

For more about BRD and its control, click on the links below.

• Protecting your investment - beef (PDF)
• Protecting your investment - dairy (PDF)
• Aureomycin+Bovatec: Formula for success (PDF)
• FDA okays Aureomycin-Bovatec for beef cattle (PDF or HTML)
• FDA okays Aureomycin-Bovatec for dairy replacement heifers (PDF or HTML)
• Aureo S 700 product benefits (PDF)
• Fact sheet: Deccox (beef) (PDF or HTML)
• Brochure: Aureomycin/Aureo S 700 quality (PDF)
• Strategic use of Aureomycin in treating BRD (PDF or HTML)
• Effects of Aureo S 700 and Aureomycin in reducing lung lesions (PDF or HTML)
• Plasma and lung tissue levels of Aureomycin and OTC in calves (PDF or HTML)
• Effect of Aureomycin and injectable OTC on health and performance
  (PDF or HTML)
• Porcine and bovine pathogen sensitiivities - Aureomycin vs. OTC (PDF or HTML)
• Comparative pelleting stability of Aureomycin and OTC (PDF or HTML)
• Safety of feeding Aureomycin to cattle (PDF or HTML)
• Subinhibitory action of antibiotics (PDF or HTML)
• Aureomycin vs. generic CTC - mixer carryover, consistency, stability
  (PDF or HTML)
• Proper identification of sick feedlot cattle affects profitabilityr (PDF or HTML)
• Fact sheet: Aureo S 700 (dairy) (PDF or HTML)
• Fact sheet: Aureo S 700 (beef) (PDF or HTML)
• Data sheet: Aureo S 700 (PDF)
• Aureo S 700 in prevention of respiratory disease in calves (PDF or HTML)
• Antimicrobial blood and lung tissue levels in cattle fed Aureo S 700 or OTC
  (PDF or HTML)
• Preconditioning programs with Aureo S 700 (PDF or HTML)
• Comparison of Aureo S 700 and Pennfield CTC+SMZ (PDF or HTML)
• Brochure: The mark of excellence in heifer health (PDF)
• Brochure: Aureomycin + Deccox (PDF)
• Brochure: Aureomycin + Bovatec (PDF)
• Brochure: Aureo S 700 (PDF)
• Florida's McArthur Farms prefers to be proactive with disease management
  (PDF or HTML)
• Good coccidiosis control starts early, before symptoms show (PDF or HTML)
• Florida's Thomas Cattle Buying fine tunes the art of preconditioning
  (PDF or HTML)
• Aureomycin and Aureo S 700: Mechanism of action against Mannheimia haeomolytica (PDF or HTML)

• Aureomycin® + Bovatec®

  Now get BRD and coccidiosis protection in the same feed.
  (read more)

• Aureomycin®

  Time-tested control of BRD and anaplasmosis, plus better feed/gain.
  (read more)

• Aureo S 700®

  The sensible, broad-spectrum choice for tough enteric and respiratory disease challenges in calves.
  (read more)

• Bovatec®

  Proven safe, palatable and the only ionophore you can feed starting at birth.
  (read more)

• Deccox®

  Works directly in the small intestine to stop the top causes of coccidiosis.
  (read more)

• Natural supplements

  Alphamune® and Beta Mos™ help improve intestinal health so cattle can more easily fight disease. .
  (read more)

• Teat dips

  Kenostart® and Kenocidin® — two trusted options to protect cows from mastitis.
  (read more)

• Water solubles

  Fast-acting, water-soluble antibiotics to get a sick animals back on their feet.
  (read more)