DEVELOPING AN ACCURATE REMOTE EARLY DISEASE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM IN CATTLE TO PROMOTE JUDICIOUS USE OF ANTIMICROBIALS.

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1006253
• Grant No.: 2015-33610-23504
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $99,803.00
• Proposal No.: 2015-00394
• Project Start Date: Jun 1, 2015
• Project End Date: Mar 15, 2016
• Grant Year: 2015
• Program Code: [8.3]- Animal Production & Protection

Recipient Organization
PROFESSIONAL BEEF SERVICES, LLC
30182 PEAR ST
CANTON,MO 63435

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most common and economically significant disease in beef calves costing the industry over $700 million annually. Antimicrobial BRD therapy can be effective when applied appropriately; however, conventional diagnostic methods rely almost exclusively on human observation resulting in numerous misclassifications. A remote early disease identification (REDI) system has been created to continuously monitor cattle behavior and accurately diagnose BRD. Preliminary research shows that REDI improves diagnostic accuracy and identifies BRD up to 2 days before human observers. An opportunity exists to use REDI for accurate BRD detection to promote rational therapy, which is an important strategy to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Our long term goal is commercialization of a technology promoting judicious antimicrobial use and improved cattle health through enhanced BRD diagnostics. The goal of this proposal is to evaluate potential differences in health, performance, and economics when comparing cattle managed conventionally to cattle using the REDI system. Project objectives will be achieved through clinical trials comparing REDI to a visual observer and monitoring relevant outcomes. We hypothesize REDI will provide economic benefits compared to visual observation resulting from improved health outcomes due to early BRD identification, better cattle performance because subclinical cases were identified, lower treatment costs due to judicious use of antimicrobials, and less labor expenses due to efficient personnel allocation.

Animal Health Component

80%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

0%

Applied

80%

Developmental

20%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
311	3310	1170	100%

Knowledge Area
311 - Animal Diseases;

Subject Of Investigation
3310 - Beef cattle, live animal;

Field Of Science
1170 - Epidemiology;

Keywords

remote animal monitoring

bovine respiratory disease

cattle

disease detection

Goals / Objectives
Our overarching goal is commercialization of a technology promoting judicious antimicrobial use and improved cattle health through enhanced BRD diagnostics. We formed an advisory board of feedyard consultants and the consultants were satisfied with preliminary research on system accuracy and early identification of BRD, but the consensus was we needed more data on the value proposition of REDI in commercial settings. Therefore, we structured our research objective to directly address their primary question:Objective: Determine value proposition of REDI compared to conventional BRD identification in cattle at high risk for BRD. Transitioning to REDI is a paradigm shift for cattle healthcare providers, and the level of market adoption is dependent on understanding REDI benefits compared to conventional management. We hypothesize REDI will provide economic benefits compared to visual observation resulting from improved health outcomes due to early BRD identification, better cattle performance because subclinical cases were identified, lower treatment costs due to judicious use of antimicrobials, and less labor expenses due to efficient personnel allocation.

Project Methods
Efforts: Our project objective will be achieved using pen-level randomized controlled clinical trials with replicates in multiple locations. Two locations will be used in the study with multiple replicates (n=4 replicates) at each site comparing REDI to conventional BRD management.Evaluation: The different diagnostic modalities (REDI and visual observation) will be applied to the cohort (housing unit)-level and all evaluations will be conducted using this experimental unit. The primary outcome of interest will be the creation of an economic model combining health and performance data. The economic model will generate estimate net return values for cattle in each treatment group for comparison using similar methodology to previous research.Differences in common measures of health, production, and economics will be used to explain economic discrepancies between the REDI and traditional management. Calculated health outcomes of interest include morbidity risk (number of animals treated at least once for BRD), retreatment rate (number of animals treated for BRD that subsequently required further therapy), mortality, case fatality rate (the percent of animals that died following treatment for BRD), and total antibiotic utilization. Production indices of interest include average daily gain (pounds gained per head per day), feed intake (calculated as daily feed delivered to the pen) and feed to gain conversion (pen-level).

Progress 06/01/15 to 01/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience reached includes potential feedyard clients for the remote early disease identification (REDI) technology. These audiences were reached through direct contact with research and in discussions related to research findings. Changes/Problems:Overall 9 replicates at two locations were initiated and 7 replicates resulted in data for analysis. We had two groups of cattle (total of 4 pens and 174 head) that did not complete the trial due to technical difficulties with the system. In each case there was a hardware / software communication problem that was subsequently resolved, but not resolved in a time period to allow data collection from these trials. From these events, we learned methods to troubleshoot the system and more rapidly identify operational issues that could prevent the system from working in a commercial environment. The external collaborator was going to perform further replicates, but due to shifts in cattle prices, they were unable to complete more than two replicates. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have not been disseminated yet, but a manuscript is currently in preparation. Findings will also be presented at scientific meetings and placed on our website for informational use by potential customers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A pen-level randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted with 7 replicates in 2 locations representing 614 head. In each replicate cattle were randomly allocated to a diagnostic modality pen (either REDI or conventional visual observation) and monitored for 30 days. Common variables for performance (average daily weight gain, feed conversion) and health (number of treatments, death loss rate) were calculated for each replicate. Net economic returns were calculated for each replicate based on health and performance outcomes. The REDI system illustrated lower (P < 0.02) probability of second (0.01) and third (<0.01) treatment compared to CON (0.05 and 0.01 respectively). REDI calves had a higher (P < 0.01) probability of first treatment success (0.86) when compared to CON (0.63). The difference in first treatment success is reflective of the lower probabilities of retreatments and illustrates practical value of the system to the potential user. The number of calves initially treated for BRD tended (P = 0.09) to be lower for the REDI group (0.18) compared to the CON group (0.24). One concern with remote monitoring devices is potential identification of animals that do not need treatment compared to visual observation and this trial illustrated that REDI identified less calves than the person for first treatment. No other differences in performance or health were identified. The trial monitoring period for each replicate was designed to monitor a short period (~30d) because most disease events occur during this time; however, performance differences from the difference in number of calves treated (initially and subsequently) may have resulted in longer term performance differences not captured during the trial. No statistical difference (P=0.30) in net returns ($/head) was identified among REDI (-$4.65 ± 39.6, LSM ± SE) and CON (-21.56 ± 39.6). The study was powered to identify a difference in net returns of $7 per head, but the power calculations were based on a much lower (5.00) standard deviation of net returns than was observed in the trial even after standardizing cattle prices. The returns on each group were highly variable among replicates considering differences in performance and health outcomes. The REDI system showed several advantages which could translate to long-term values in animal welfare and economic advantages. This short term trial captured differences in treatment responses but may not have been long enough to capture all performance differences among treatment groups. Further research in larger pens for longer periods is required to elucidate the value of REDI in commercial settings.

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