Bovine Respiratory Disease - Treatment with Baytril®
Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRD) is a prevalent, multivalent disease syndrome seen in cattle. "Shipping Fever" is just one of the manifestations of this syndrome. BRD is caused by viral and bacterial pathogens. Many different viruses have been associated with respiratory disease. There are fewer common bacterial pathogens associated with respiratory disease in cattle.
The common viral pathogens are:
- Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)
- Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD)
- Parainfluenza 3 (PI-3)
- Bovine Respiratory Syncitial Virus (BRSV)
The more common pathogens are:
- Haemophilus somnus
- Pasteurella multocida
- Mannheimia (Pasteurella) hemolytica
- Mycoplasma spp.
BRD is a very costly disease to cattle producers. Economic losses are more than just death. To treat BRD, it is very important to focus not only on prevention, but also to fight the bacteria that complicate the viral infections.
Baytril demonstrates excellent efficacy against the bacteria involved, but also provides fast clinical cure of infected animals.
A multi-location study was conducted in the United States in three geographic locations (California, Texas and Colorado). Test animals were commercial crossbred calves (minimum of four months of age) that developed BRD associated with crowding and shipment. 100 treated animals and 50 controls were used in each location. All animals were monitored for clinical outcome for ten days. An animal was considered a treatment success if it did not relapse during the ten-day observation period.
Animals were treated with Baytril® Max as a single injection at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg b.w.; the controls received placebos.
Before treatment, nasal swabs were collected to confirm the presence of pathogenic bacteria and mycoplasma.
The animals treated with Baytril® Max showed a significant reduction in body temperature within 24 hours, and the clinical scores improved significantly within 24 – 48 hours. The mortality rate was very low in the Baytril group compared to the controls. Treatment with Baytril was successful in a high percentage of animals, and the relapse rate was low.
Another field efficacy trial was carried out on commercial beef farms in East Central Scotland. The 164 cattle included in the study were crossbred female or male beef calves 3 to 9 months of age. Calves were divided into two groups. Group A received a daily injection with Baytril® 10% of 2.5 mg Enrofloxacin/kg bw for 3 consecutive days (n=69) or a single injection (Baytril® MAX) of 7.5 mg Enrofloxacin/kg bw (n=95).
After 24 hours there was a reduction in rectal temperatures, and they remained relatively stable in the two groups. Clinically there was no significant difference between the two groups. Retreatment rates were lower in the single-day dosing regimen than in the multiple day dosing group, which can be seen in the results of the study.
These findings show that Baytril provides rapid action and a fast cure in cattle suffering from BRD.
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