Huge cost of disease in livestock

Eblex, the organisation for the English beef and sheep industry, is warning cattle farmers to manage their herds to mitigate the risk of herds falling victim to pneumonia over the coming weeks.
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The disease is the cattle industry’s most expensive, costing farmers an estimated £50m a year, with cows most at risk of contracting the condition in autumn.

The staggering bill of the condition to UK farmers takes into account the cost of treatment, loss of performance and mortality. Weaning stress and decreasing temperatures, coupled with housing and diet transitions, make autumn such a high-risk period on many farms, Eblex said.

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Poppy Frater, an Eblex livestock scientist, said: “Pneumonia causes inflammation of the lung tissue and airways, which may be irreversible in severe cases. It is caused by many interacting factors, rather than a simple introduction of one bacteria or virus into a group of animals.

“Often calves become infected with a virus first, followed by a secondary bacterial infection.”

Disease risk can be lessened by reducing the exposure of cattle to stress and disease agents, Miss Frater said.

To reduce disease risk, Eblex recommends that farmers ensure sufficient colostrum intake at birth, provide sufficient nutrition for growth and monitor and correct trace element status, particularly vitamin E/selenium.

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Physiological stress can be avoided at weaning by creep feeding or housing at night to start with, by castrating and disbudding calves while they are young and by handling animals sensitively to reduce stress in transport.

Existing conditions should be treated and stocking rates kept at moderate levels, while avoiding mixing different ages of cattle and avoiding unnecessary group changes can help mitigate risk.

Environmental factors are important too, Eblex said, such as ensuring buildings are well ventilated but free from draughts at animal level so that variations in temperature are minimised, and by avoiding the use of damp bedding materials.

Vaccination is not a stand-alone measure, Miss Frater said.

“When animals are vaccinated during times of stress, or management is poor, then the vaccine is less likely to prevent disease.”

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