Effect of bovine respiratory disease and overall pathogenic disease incidence on carcass traits1,2

Abstract

The objective this study was to evaluate the effects of incidence of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and overall incidence of pathogenic diseases (IPD) on carcass traits. Two independent populations were used. The first population included crossbred steers (GPE7; n = 642) derived from sires of 7 Bos taurus breeds: Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Limousin, Red Angus, and Simmental. The second population included crossbred steers (GPE8; n = 621) derived from tropically adapted Bos taurus breeds and Bos indicus-influenced breeds: Beefmaster, Brangus, Bonsmara, and Romosinuano, as well as Hereford and Angus. Treatment records for BRD, infectious keratoconjunctivitis, and infectious pododermatitis were available for these populations. Incidence of BRD was treated as an independent effect. Incidences of the 3 microbial pathogenic diseases were pooled into a single trait to represent overall pathogenic disease incidence. Traits evaluated were HCW; KPH; LM area; marbling score; fat thickness; dressing percentage; yield grade; retail, fat, and bone yields; and meat tenderness. Both BRD and IPD were associated with differences in yield grade in GPE7 and GPE8 steers. Animals treated for BRD had decreased yield grades (P = 0.003 and P = 0.02, in GPE7 and GPE8, respectively) compared with untreated animals. Animals treated for IPD had decreased yield grades (P = 0.0006 and P = 0.004, in GPE7 and GPE8, respectively) compared with untreated animals. Incidence of BRD and IPD were associated with a reduction in fat thickness in GPE7 and GPE8 steers. Animals treated for BRD had reduced adjusted fat measurements (P = 0.0007 and P = 0.01, in GPE7 and GPE8) compared with untreated animals. Animals treated for IPD also had reduced adjusted fat measurements (P = 0.0003 and P = 0.002, in GPE7 and GPE8) compared with untreated animals. Animals treated for BRD (P < 0.007) or IPD (P < 0.02) in the GPE7 population also had decreased estimated KPH measurements compared with unaffected animals. Animals affected with BRD in GPE8 had greater (P < 0.05) shear force measurements than unaffected animals. Animals affected with IPD in GPE8 had greater HCW (P < 0.03) and fat yield (P < 0.01) measurements but lesser bone yield (P < 0.03) and retail product yield (P < 0.01) measurements than unaffected animals. The relationship between disease and carcass traits should be given consideration by future studies that aim to develop selection strategies based on specific traits.

Effect of health status on fattening performance in young crossbred polish Holstein‐Friesian × Limousin Bulls and steers

“…In the present study, the carcasses of treated steers had lower fat content than the carcasses of healthy steers, which corroborates the findings of Garcia et al (), Gardner et al (), Montgomery et al () and Snowder et al (). Gardner et al (), who analyzed Charolais steers, and Montgomery et al (), who investigated heifers, found that animals treated for pneumonia at least once during rearing and fattening were characterized by lower fat deposition than healthy animals.…”

Impact of respiratory disease, diarrhea, otitis and arthritis on mortality and carcass traits in white veal calves

“…As in most epidemiological studies on BRD, producer based diagnosis was used, because this approach is closest to realistic on farm procedures and therefore better interpretable by the industry itself [3,4,9,10,33-35]. For diarrhea, arthritis and otitis, straightforward case definitions based on obvious symptoms were provided to the producers, and reporting bias is believed to be limited for these diseases.…”

“…Chronic BRD also had a significant negative effect on carcass quality and fat cover, as documented for feedlots [6,9]. In feedlots chronic unresponsive pneumonia has been associated with Mycoplasma bovis and bovine viral diarrhea virus [46,47].…”

Associations between infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis at weaning and ultrasongraphically measured body composition traits in yearling cattle

“…The explanation for the different association observed for ADG between that study 4 and the present study is unknown; however, differences in management, having a bull-only population, or other unreported study characteristics are likely. Another study 12 found changes in production traits associated with treatment for any preweaning disease, including bovine respiratory disease, IBK, and infectious pododermatitis; however, the sole contribution of IBK to losses was not determined. Other studies [13][14][15] that evaluated disease occurrence and production traits have focused on postweaning disease, in particular, bovine respiratory disease.…”