The cattle industry is working to keep illnesses at bay, particularly Bovine Respiratory Disease. It is one of the costliest diseases for beef cattle in North America.
An international consortium has issued grants to study its impact and how to prevent it. Some recipients will study more than 2,000 cattle in Kansas and Texas and hope to give local veterinarians information to fight these costly illnesses.
BRD is typically treated with antibiotics, but the Foundation for Food and Ag Research says antibiotic resistance is a global public threat. Eventually, those diseases become resistant, and infections start becoming impossible to treat.
BRD costs ranchers nearly a billion dollars each year.
