Join us today for a conversation about liver abscesses in fed cattle. Dr. Eric Behlke is a former AABP District 13 Director and a feedlot veterinarian from Okotoks, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Behlke discusses the pathogenesis of liver abscesses and the primary etiologic agents of the condition. A rule of thumb is that 10-20% of livers contain abscesses, but this incidence rate can vary greatly by lot, with some having condemnation rates of 70% or more. We also discuss the three grades of liver abscesses and what influences the incidence rate of this disease. Elanco has developed a “Liver Check Service” that has information on liver abscesses as well as pictures of the various classification system, which can be found at this link.  Liver abscesses cause economic loss at the packer and producer level and veterinarians play a critical role in working with nutritionists to manage the incidence of the disease. Dr. Behlke discusses that although there are many prevention strategies, the most consistently effective and economic control measure is feeding tylosin throughout the feeding period. We discuss the potential impact that future FDA regulation might have on the use of this antimicrobial and AABP advocacy efforts for use of these safe and effective products.

 Relevant publications:

 1. Amachawadi RG, Nagaraja TG. Liver abscesses in cattle: A review of incidence in Holsteins and of bacteriology and vaccine approaches to control in feedlot cattle. J Anim Sci. 2016 Apr;94(4):1620-32. doi: 10.2527/jas.2015-0261. PMID: 27136021.

 2. Müller HC, Van Bibber-Krueger CL, Ogunrinu OJ, Amachawadi RG, Scott HM, Drouillard JS. Effects of intermittent feeding of tylosin phosphate during the finishing period on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, antimicrobial resistance, and incidence and severity of liver abscesses in steers. J Anim Sci. 2018 Jun 29;96(7):2877-2885. doi: 10.1093/jas/sky166. PMID: 29718254; PMCID: PMC6095443.

 3. Weinroth MD, Martin JN, Doster E, Geornaras I, Parker JK, Carlson CR, Metcalf JL, Morley PS, Belk KE. Investigation of tylosin in feed of feedlot cattle and effects on liver abscess prevalence, and fecal and soil microbiomes and resistomes1. J Anim Sci. 2019 Nov 4;97(11):4567-4578. doi: 10.1093/jas/skz306. PMID: 31563955; PMCID: PMC6827412.