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Vetdle Archive

Archive Case #62: Bovine Respiratory Disease

Cattle veterinary case - Easy - May 4, 2026

Clinical Clues

  1. A group of recently transported weaner calves develops fever, depression, and nasal discharge after arrival.
  2. Several affected animals are breathing faster and coughing.
  3. The outbreak follows recent mixing, transport stress, and weather change.
  4. Auscultation reveals increased bronchial sounds and cranioventral lung involvement.
  5. The syndrome is consistent with bronchopneumonia in transported calves.
  6. Bovine respiratory disease is a multifactorial syndrome that commonly follows stress, commingling, and pathogen exposure in young cattle.

Diagnosis

Bovine Respiratory Disease

This case is most consistent with Bovine Respiratory Disease because the calves became febrile and respiratory after transport and mixing with clinical evidence of bronchopneumonia. The most important clues are the timing after shipping, group outbreak, and cranioventral lung pattern, which strongly support BRD.

Learning review

Review the case evidence

Use the paired clues to explain how the evidence in this cattle case supports the provided diagnosis, Bovine Respiratory Disease, then compare your reasoning with the case explanation.

Evidence checkpoints

Clues 1-2

  1. Clue 1: A group of recently transported weaner calves develops fever, depression, and nasal discharge after arrival.
  2. Clue 2: Several affected animals are breathing faster and coughing.

Clues 3-4

  1. Clue 3: The outbreak follows recent mixing, transport stress, and weather change.
  2. Clue 4: Auscultation reveals increased bronchial sounds and cranioventral lung involvement.

Clues 5-6

  1. Clue 5: The syndrome is consistent with bronchopneumonia in transported calves.
  2. Clue 6: Bovine respiratory disease is a multifactorial syndrome that commonly follows stress, commingling, and pathogen exposure in young cattle.

Self-review prompts

  1. After clues 1-2, what evidence from this cattle case shaped your initial interpretation?
  2. When you compare clues 3-4 with clues 1-2, what changed in your reasoning about Bovine Respiratory Disease?
  3. How do clues 5-6 align with the case explanation for Bovine Respiratory Disease?

Educational Use

Vetdle archive cases are educational veterinary games for diagnostic reasoning practice. They do not provide veterinary advice, diagnosis, treatment, or professional medical guidance.