Can dogs catch a whiff of bovine respiratory disease?

  • Runnels, at top, and Cheaps, lower, were trained over seven months to discriminate nasal swabs collected from cattle at the McGregor Research Station that developed bovine respiratory disease symptoms. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Aiden Juge)
    Runnels, at top, and Cheaps, lower, were trained over seven months to discriminate nasal swabs collected from cattle at the McGregor Research Station that developed bovine respiratory disease symptoms. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Aiden Juge)

    A Texas A&M AgriLife researcher is taking a page out of human disease research to see if dogs might be able to sniff out bovine respiratory disease, BRD, one of the largest health challenges for the feedlot cattle industry.

    Courtney Daigle, Ph.D., an animal welfare specialist in the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and her…