Development and Progression of Bovine Respiratory Disease Measured Using Clinical Respiratory Scoring and Thoracic Ultrasonography in Preweaned Calves on Dairy Farms in the United Kingdom: A Prospective Cohort Study
Open accessAbstract
The respiratory health of preweaned calves is an important determinant of their health, welfare, and future performance. This prospective cohort study measured bovine respiratory disease (BRD) on 16 dairy farms, including 476 calves in South-west England. Wisconsin and California respiratory scoring and thoracic ultrasonography were performed repeatedly at 7 ± 0.89 day intervals (mean ± SD) at 0–56 days of age (n = 3344 examinations). Cases were localized to the upper or lower respiratory tract, or both, and classified as new, repeat, or chronic. Prevalence and incidence were calculated. Multivariate modeling of factors associated with repeated measurements was performed. Increasing age (OR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.04–1.06) and fecal score (Score 2, OR = 1.78, 95% CI 1.14–2.77) were associated with a lower odds of a healthy BRD subtype, whereas increasing serum total protein (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.96–0.99) was protective. Older (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.06–1.09), male (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.01–2.84) calves with elevated Wisconsin respiratory scores (≥5, OR 5.61, 95% CI 3.38–9.30) were more likely to have elevated thoracic ultrasound scores. BRD remains common in calves born in UK dairy herds, requiring precise identification and management if preweaning health is to be optimized.
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Antemortem diagnosis of BRD remains complex, and the diagnostic accuracy of routine clinical respiratory scoring is still imperfect when compared directly to Thoracic Ultrasonography on-farm.
“Recent literature focusing on UK dairy farms highlights that antemortem diagnosis of BRD remains complex, and the diagnostic accuracy of routine clinical respiratory scoring is still imperfect when compared directly to Thoracic Ultrasonography (TUS) on-farm (2).”
From Understanding antibiotic decision-making for bovine respiratory disease: a survey of UK farm veterinarians (2026) · cites this paper as [2]
The literature describing UK farm veterinarians' decision-making regarding antibiotic use for treating BRD in preweaned calves is limited.
“The literature describing UK farm veterinarians’ decision-making regarding antibiotic use for treating BRD in preweaned calves is limited.”
From Understanding antibiotic decision-making for bovine respiratory disease: a survey of UK farm veterinarians (2026) · cites this paper as [2]
The Materials and Methods section (2.2; page not provided) says private veterinarians advised on treatment, and the Results (3.1; page not provided) report antibiotic use. Neither passage assesses how much literature exists on UK farm veterinarians’ antibiotic decision-making for preweaned calves. Searches for that literature gap and for veterinary prescribing decisions found no passage addressing it. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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- Authors
- Lindley, G., Blackie, N., Wathes, D. C., & Booth, R. E.
- Affiliations
- Royal Veterinary College (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lindley, George
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2025-01-27
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 360
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11816342
- OpenAlex
- W4406871549
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 13.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Barham Benevolent Foundation (RES5926)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal health and immunology
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Microbial infections and disease research
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- bovine respiratory disease, pre-weaned calves, dairy calves, thoracic ultrasound, disease progression, disease incidence, disease prevalence, fecal score, serum total protein, calf age, sex differences, upper and lower respiratory tract
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