cows | School of Veterinary Medicine

Bovine Respiratory Disease: Costs and Risk Factors

The incidence and severity of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in dairy cattle varies widely, making economic impacts difficult to quantify.

Large Animal

A New App Helps Estimate Herd Prevalence of Bovine Respiratory Disease

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the most significant illnesses impacting the health of pre-weaned calves. It’s the #2 killer of pre-weaned calves and of particular interest to dairy farmers in California, the nation’s #1 milk producer. Producers now have a new diagnostic tool in hand—a phone app that leads them through a scoring system for BRD—that aims to improve the health of pre-weaned calves on California dairies.

Food & Agriculture

Cow’s Near Fatal Ingestion Prompts Surgery

Tag 1839, a 2-year-old Jersey dairy cow, was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital for suspected pneumonia. She had been treated appropriately by her primary veterinarian, but without significant improvement, so she was referred to the Livestock Medicine and Surgery Service for further diagnostics and treatment. A blood test showed evidence of severe chronic inflammation, and an ultrasound showed that she had fluid, inflammation, and an abscess in her chest cavity. Radiographs of her chest showed that she had a foreign body—a piece of wire—extending from the first compartment of her stomach toward her heart.

Large Animal

Feeding Waste Milk to Calves: Reducing Antimicrobial Resistance

An undesired consequence of the use of antimicrobial drugs in cattle is the presence of drug residues and/or metabolites in feces and urine, or in the milk of lactating animals. In lactating dairy cattle, this translates into production losses due to withholding of nonsaleable waste milk containing drug residues.

Large Animal