Adelaide University research identifies drivers of cattle respiratory disease

Research from Adelaide University has identified factors contributing to bovine respiratory disease (BRD) mortality in Australian feedlot cattle, even among vaccinated animals. Using metagenomic testing, researchers found that locally endemic diseases complicate the risk profiles of beef herds before they even enter feedlots.

While overall mortality rates in Australian feedlots remain below 0.5 per cent, BRD is a primary infectious cause of death, accounting for nearly 38 per cent of all recorded feedlot deaths in the study. The disease is estimated to cost the feedlot industry more than $40 million annually.

Professor Darren Trott, director of the Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology, noted that the primary drivers of respiratory disease mortality are often present before cattle reach the feedlot. The study also found that cattle from supplier properties with a history of high BRD mortality were more than four times as likely to die from the disease than those from lower-risk properties.