Mapping Variability in Bovine Respiratory Disease Risk Factors in Beef Production Systems: A Scoping Review

This scoping review examines bovine respiratory disease (BRD) risk factors across beef production systems to clarify their contribution to disease occurrence and outcomes and to identify gaps that limit effective prevention. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, eight databases (EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, MDPI, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Dairy Science, and Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed studies published between 2004 and 2024, yielding 91 eligible studies from 133 screened articles. Data were charted to assess how BRD risk factors have been investigated across cow-calf, stocker/backgrounding, and feedlot systems and categorized into biological, operational, and environmental domains. Twenty-three major risk factors were identified, with transportation stress and commingling most frequently studied in stocker and feedlot systems, while management-related factors such as vaccination were more commonly emphasized in cow-calf operations. The evidence base was heavily skewed toward feedlot populations (62%), with limited focus on cow-calf (13%) and stocker (7%) systems and few longitudinal studies spanning multiple production stages. Overall, the findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in research emphasis and highlight critical gaps in early-life and cross-stage risk assessment. These findings underscore an urgent need for longitudinal, cross-stage cohort studies and standardized BRD surveillance frameworks to address the early-life evidence gap and provide a foundation for more effective, data-driven, integrated disease prevention strategies.