Vets urged to help farmers spot BRD

Vets urged to help farmers spot BRD

A new campaign will encourage vets to help farmers spot and treat the symptoms of bovine respiratory disease (BRD).

Ceva Animal Health has launched a range of materials that can be used to help farmers understand how the disease can be prevented, detected and treated on farm.

BRD affects 46 per cent of calves before they reach nine weeks and lesions can develop in the lungs from as early as 12 days after birth. It is the most diagnosed cause of death for calves younger than six-months-old and the total cost of treatment can be as much as £772 per animal.

The support materials from Ceva emphasise the importance of using NSAIDS along with appropriate antibiotic treatments for affected animals. They also include a series of ‘CalfEd’ bulletins that can be distributed by practices and a farmer website, a BRD scoring system for pre-weaned calves and a social media campaign.

Ceva’s ruminant veterinary advisor, Gemma Robinson, says that BRD remains one of the UK’s most prevalent diseases in dairy calves with long-term knock-on effects associated decreased longevity and production.

‘The lifetime total economic cost could amount to more than £700 per dairy heifer. The cost of adding an NSAID into a BRD treatment plan is minimal compared to the long-term economic losses caused by chronic ling lung consolidation, which is why it’s important that vets promote the benefits of prevention, early detection and early treatment of the disease to their clients,’ adds Gemma.

To request the BRD support material, contact cevauk@ceva.com or telephone 01494 781510