Observations on the use of a long-acting oxytetracycline for in-contact prophylaxis of undifferentiated bovine respiratory disease in feedlot steers under Canadian conditions

Abstract

Respiratory diseases are the most common causes of mortality in the feedlot. Often, mortality alone is not the most important component of health costs but added to this must be the cost of morbidity (treatments, prophylaxis and reduced feed efficiency). Traditionally, the cattle marketing system in Canada mixes cattle with different levels of stress, different micro-organisms in number and amount and different nutritional backgrounds. Unless significant changes in patterns of cattle marketing occur, the incidence of respiratory disease will still remain the feedlot industry's most costly health problem. The purpose of this project was to study an outbreak of naturally occurring undifferentiated respiratory disease in feedlot steers under feedlot management conditions which was curtailed by using the principle of mass individual treatment.