New Insight in the Management of Acute Bovine Respiratory Diseases

Abstract

Acute bovine respiratory diseases (ABRD) are the most important cause of sanitary economic losses in cattle. These problems are increasing despite the use of preventive and therapeutic agents. This could be due to several factors like increase of the population density in the cattle units, increase of the virulence of the pathogens, increase of air pollution, etc. Another explanation could be that, in the past, bovine respiratory diseases have been analysed at a pathological but not functional level. In the light of new information on bovine pulmonary function in health and disease, it appears that, before the occurrence of irreversible and of course untreatable lung damages, there are some reversible dysfunctions at the level of pulmonary ventilation, perfusion or gas diffusion. An early and appropriate correction of these dysfunctions is of a critical importance in order to decrease the rate of mortality and chronic pneumonia.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the pecularities of the bovine pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology in order to try to improve the efficiency of the treatment of ABRD.

The prevention of ABRD, although highly important, is not analysed in this paper.