Purdue University researchers are developing technology designed to reduce diagnosis time for bovine respiratory disease. BRD is one of the more costly cattle diseases and accounts for half of all North American feedlot deaths and robs beef and dairy producers of about $900 million a year. The new test can diagnose BRD in about 30 minutes, compared to the four-plus days current tests take. While veterinarians routinely treat BRD with antibiotics, some bacteria are resistant to the chosen drug.
Source: Inside Indiana Business, July 15, 2020. Link. When we have BRD going through multiple animals in the herd, we need to know exactly what bacteria we are up against and exactly which antibiotics will be useful quicker than four to five days so we can make good choices about the antibiotics we use the first time,” said Koziol.
Having a rapid test that we can use is good for the animals and good for antibiotic stewardship.”
INSIGHTS: This is best news about BRD to come along in eons. If the Purdue crew can adapt sensors to detect other animal and human diseases, all the better.