Monitoring for Infectious Disease in Cattle Operations

Abstract

Infectious diseases are among the most important problems in all types of livestock production. Costs can be tremendous to a single operation for diagnosing and treating sick animals, or associated with death losses. However, these probably are far outweighed by such hidden costs as associated with decreased production efficiency or lost production opportunities. Less-immediate losses that also must be considered include those linked to the inability to market stock because of the potential spread of infection.