Use of a disease reporting system in a large beef feedlot.

A large commercial beef feedlot in northeastern Colorado was selected by stratified random process for inclusion in the National Animal Health Monitoring System pilot data collection project. Various records in the feedlot were used to collect data related to animal health conditions and to their costs. A total of 57,727 cattle were processed during the 12-month period of the study. Rates were used to adjust for the number of cattle in the feedlot during that period. The disease incidence, culling rate, and death rate were presented by each month in the study. The monthly mean number of cattle was the denominator for these rates. During the 12 months, 72 diseases or abnormal conditions were recorded. The total cost of the 10 most prevalent diseases (itemized by dead, culled, treatment, and income from selling dead animals) accounted for approximately 77% of the total cost of disease in the feedlot. The total cost of lower respiratory tract diseases contributed approximately 46% of the total disease cost, and 60% of the cost of the 10 most prevalent diseases. In order to consider the reporting methods reliable, a separate study was undertaken to validate a reported disease or condition in the feedlot.