On 3rd October last, HIPRA was pleased to hold the HIPRA UNIVERSITY training course entitled ‘BRD in rearing heifers and Thoracic Ultrasound as an innovative tool for its diagnosis’.

The event was conducted at Mas Bes farm, Girona (Spain) by Dr. Ramon Armengol DVM PhD, an experienced farm animal veterinarian and associate lecturer at the Universitat de Lleida.

The eight attendees were vets from Poland, Spain and Portugal who participated in the HIPRABOVIS SOMNI/LKT Photo Contest, in which Inmaculada Cuevas del Valle’s picture was the winner.

During the morning, Dr. Armengol focussed on the importance of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in rearing heifers and its economic impact on the farm:  "It is important to bear in mind that 20% of the costs of a farm are accounted for by rearing heifers. At calving, heifer costs are between €2,000 and €2,300 (calving at 22-24mo), with an average cost of €2.35 per day of life (European conditions)", Dr. Armengol says.

Short and mid-term effects of BRD are clear to most of the professionals in the farm industry (mortality, use of antibiotics, reduced feed intake and conversion, etc.). The speaker therefore also highlighted the long-term effects of BRD, such as an increase in the age at first calving, reduced milk production in the first lactation or reduced lifespan of affected heifers (reduced number of lactations) to name but a few.

In addition, Dr. Armengol shared with the attendees the use of thoracic ultrasound as a tool for the diagnosis of BRD in a practical approach. How to classify animals in terms of severity and its adaptation to the daily work of practitioners were also discussed.

In the afternoon, all those attending took part in the practical training session with calves from the farm. The vets were able to familiarise themselves with the technique.

Bovine Respiratory Disease is a complex which depends on the animal, the environment and pathogens. Vaccination is key in order to prevent BRD in cattle.