Diseases of yearling feedlot cattle in Colorado

During all of 1974 we surveyed, for illnesses and deaths, about 407,000 yearling feedlot cattle. The morbidity was 5.1%, with a case mortality of 18.9% and a population mortality of 1.0%. Both morbidity and mortality were higher during fall and winter than during spring and summer. Of the 3,943 dead cattle, 1,988 were necropsied. The most prevalent diseases were: pneumonia, 48%; diphtheria, 6%; brisket disease, 6%; hemorrhagic colitis, 5%; riding injury, 4%; bloat, 3%; calculosis, 2%; endocarditis, 2%; abomasal ulcers, 2%; bovine viral diarrhea, 2%; embolic pulmonary aneurysm, 1%; and pulmonary edema, 1%.