Student Case Presentation
Evaluation of the Whisper® technology hospital algorithm in dairy heifer development systems
| Date/Time: |
9/12/2024 11
|
| Presenter: |
Savanah Crews |
| Veterinary School: |
IA |
Abstract:
Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a costly disease which manifests most commonly at times of stress throughout a diary cows life. Respiratory infections can severely limit the performance potential of growing dairy heifers. This presents a unique challenge due to the large investment required for rearing a dairy heifer with the minimal payback until she begins lactating. Therefore, evaluating lung health during the growing period may be a useful tool for making culling decisions.
Lung ultrasound (U/S) has been used to identify pathology and performance-limiting respiratory patterns in calves. While this technology is valuable, it requires expertise and training that may not be available in a production setting. Thus, a more producer friendly technology with similar accuracy would be useful for calf-side lung evaluations. The Whisper® Hospital technology (Merck Animal Health; Lenexa, KS) captures thoracic sound data and generates a score of 1-5 based on a proprietary algorithm. In beef calves, a higher score was associated with a reduction in lung health, an increased chance of BRD retreatment risk, and an elevated risk of mortality associated with BRD later in production. The objective of the current study was to compare lung health – as estimated by the Whisper® Hospital technology and performance parameters in dairy calves.
This observational study had 1,363 dairy calves enrolled from four commercial dairies during the summer of 2023. Animals were managed based on individual farm protocols. At time of enrollment (61-67 days of age) calves were evaluated using the Whisper® Hospital system. Health data is captured for each calf through January 1, 2024. At one location, lung U/S images were captured for a subset of calves using a published technique to compare visible pathology with Whisper® scores. Data analyses are forthcoming.
