Revisiting bovine respiratory disease

Morbidity attributed to bovine respiratory disease (BRD) has not significantly dropped over the past 45 years (Smith et al, 2020). This is despite a significant body of research and clear advances in treatments, detection technologies and preventatives. So how do we address this? Because BRD is characterised by a complex interaction of many different factors, no single practice for reducing the effect of this disease exists and in fact addressing one factor on its own will often lead to poor results and frustration. For example, simply introducing a vaccination programme for a group of animals kept in sheds that are poorly ventilated and unfit for purpose is unlikely to resolve a BRD issue and will bring about increased frustration and reduced confidence in the veterinary advice and in the vaccines. It is therefore important that when addressing BRD issues on farm veterinary surgeons work with their clients to come up with holistic solutions that address all the risk factors but also take into account the constraints of an individual production system. In addition, and probably most importantly, veterinary surgeons must take into account the needs and perceptions of their clients and work with them to understand their motivation and view of the problem, as only by gaining their ‘buy-in’ can they hope to bring about long-term improvements in the management of this economically damaging disease.