Pneumonia lung damage can knock up to 295g/day off cattle growth rates
UK - As the winter disease season approaches, vets are warning cattle producers that pneumonia-induced lung damage can severely compromise animal performance with the potential to reduce growth rates by up to 295g per day.
22 November 2006
1 minute read
When faced with a pneumonia outbreak, producers should be looking for a disease treatment approach that delivers fast, visible recovery from the clinical symptoms of the disease, whilst also preserving lung function for future productivity.
According to feedlot studies, it is often the pneumonia-induced lung damage that you can’t see that can really cripple enterprise profits. “Studies show that nearly 40% of the costs of pneumonia can be down to hidden growth performance penalties, which include any permanent lung damage effects,” cautions Schering-Plough Animal Health livestock veterinary adviser Andrew Montgomery MRCVS.
“Lung damage develops fast when pneumonia strikes and once it occurs the damage can become permanent very quickly unless treatment is effective and rapid,” he warns.
Andrew Montgomery points out that lungs are vital organs for life and for growth, but physiologically cattle are particularly prone to lung damage.
“For cattle and horses of similar size, horse lungs are around 43% bigger than bovine ones. Consequently, cattle lungs have little spare capacity. And as a result of these physiological differences, inhaled air travels at a much faster speed into cattle lungs, enabling it to penetrate deep into the lungs.
Source: farminguk.com
