Dr. Terri Ollivett joins us to discuss how to develop pathogen profiles for herd based and individual animal diagnostics. She provides recommendations on selecting which calves to test. Physical exams and respiratory scoring are not as accurate as utilizing lung ultrasound to find calves to test for BRD pathogens. Dr. Ollivett provides some tips for learning lung ultrasound including viewing her presentations on the AABP BCI CE portal (click on the purple cow-head logo at the bottom of any AABP page) or viewing training videos on The Dairyland Initiative #weanclean website. Dr. Ollivett recommends incorporating lung ultrasound into “herd health visits for calves” and not just reproductive exams. Diagnostic testing can also be used to assess producers case definitions as a part of antimicrobial stewardship monitoring. She walks us through tips for performing a bronchoalveolar lavage, the suggested test for an individual calf, and deep pharyngeal swab, the recommended test for herd based pathogen profiling.
Dr. Ollivett received an AABP Foundation research grant in 2015 and the publication from this research can be found in the Journal of Dairy Science at this link. This is an example of the clinically relevant research the AABP Foundation funds that is directly applicable to bovine practice. Please support the AABP Foundation in funding future projects by going to this link and donate today! A $50 donation from every podcast listener would fund an entire project! AABP Foundation research projects funded can be found on the AABP Foundation website.