Data from 1,010 lactating lactating, predominately component-fed Holstein cattle from 25 predominately tie-stall dairy farms in southwest Ontario were used to identify objective thresholds for defining hyperketonemia in lactating dairy cattle based on negative impacts on cow health, milk production, or both. Serum samples obtained during wk 1 and 2 postpartum and analyzed for beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) concentrations that were used in analysis. Data were time-ordered so that the serum samples were obtained at least 1 d before the disease or milk recording events. Serum BHBA cutpoints were constructed at 200 micromol/L intervals between 600 and 2,000 micromol/L. Critical cutpoints for the health analysis were determined based on the threshold having the greatest sum of sensitivity and specificity for predicting the disease occurrence. For the production outcomes, models for first test day milk yield, milk fat, and milk protein percentage were constructed including covariates of parity, precalving body condition score, season of calving, test day linear score, and the random effect of herd. Each cutpoint was tested in these models to determine the threshold with the greatest impact and least risk of a type 1 error. Serum BHBA concentrations at or above 1,200 micromol/L in the first week following calving were associated with increased risks of subsequent displaced abomasum [odds ratio (OR) = 2.60] and metritis (OR = 3.35), whereas the critical threshold of BHBA in wk 2 postpartum on the risk of abomasal displacement was >or=1,800 micromol/L (OR = 6.22). The best threshold for predicting subsequent risk of clinical ketosis from serum obtained during wk 1 and wk 2 postpartum was 1,400 micromol/L of BHBA (OR = 4.25 and 5.98, respectively). There was no association between clinical mastitis and elevated serum BHBA in wk 1 or 2 postpartum, and there was no association between wk 2 BHBA and risk of metritis. Greater serum BHBA measured during the first and second week postcalving were associated with less milk yield, greater milk fat percentage, and less milk protein percentage on the first Dairy Herd Improvement test day of lactation. Impacts on first Dairy Herd Improvement test milk yield began at BHBA >or=1,200 micromol/L for wk 1 samples and >or=1,400 micromol/L for wk 2 samples. The greatest impact on yield occurred at 1,400 micromol/L (-1.88 kg/d) and 2,000 micromol/L (-3.3 kg/d) for sera from the first and second week postcalving, respectively. Hyperketonemia can be defined at 1,400 micromol/L of BHBA and in the first 2 wk postpartum increases disease risk and results in substantial loss of milk yield in early lactation.

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This paper describes some of the major points of progress and challenges in health management of dairy cattle in the last 25 yr. A selection of the leading contributors in the field is acknowledged. Specific advances in the areas of transition cow management, epidemiology, udder health, applied immunology, housing design, calf health, and health-monitoring tools are described. The greatest advances in dairy health in the last 25 yr have been the shifts to disease prevention, rather than treatment, as well as from focus on individual animals to groups and herds. A fundamental advancement has been recognition of the multifactorial nature of almost all diseases of importance in dairy cattle. Epidemiology has been a critical new tool used to describe and quantify the interconnected risk factors that produce disease. Another major advance has been redefining disease more broadly, to include subclinical conditions (e.g., subclinical mastitis, ketosis, rumen acidosis, and endometritis). This expansion resulted both from improved technology to measure function at the organ level and, just as importantly, from the evolution of the health management paradigm in which any factor that limits animal or herd performance might be considered a component of disease. Links between cattle and people through consideration of environmental or ecosystem health are likely to further expand the concept of disease prevention in the future. Notable successes are decreases in the incidence of milk fever, clinical respiratory disease in adults, contagious mastitis, and clinical parasitism. There has also been improved protection through vaccination against coliform mastitis and bovine virus diarrhea. Since 1980, average herd size and milk production per cow have increased dramatically. Despite these increased demands on cows' metabolism and humans' management skills, the incidence of most common and important diseases has remained stable. Great progress has been made in understanding the biology of energy metabolism and immune function in transition dairy cows, the time at which the majority of disease occurs. Coupled with an emerging understanding of how best to provide for dairy cows' behavioral needs, transition cow management promises to be the foundation for progress in maintenance and enhancement of the health of dairy cows in the next 25 yr.

The report upon which the current discussion is based was prepared in response to the increasing interest of the dairy industry in the recording of clinical disease data. The major objective was to introduce guidelines and standards for the recording and presentation of the diseases of dairy cattle. Eight clinically identifiable diseases of economic importance to the dairy industry were considered: milk fever, retained placenta, metritis, ketosis, left displaced abomasum, cystic ovarian disease, lameness, and clinical mastitis. Standardized definitions for these diseases were established through consultation with industry partners. Two approaches to summarization and reporting were proposed. For retrospective analysis, which is used when historical data are summarized for genetic evaluation for example, lactational incidence risk (cumulative incidence) has been recommended. For current analysis, which is used for herd health monitoring, a true incidence rate has been recommended. Milk fever and retained placenta were exceptions to the latter because of their short periods of risk. For these two diseases, lactational incidence risks are reported.

Effects of a single injection of meloxicam on calf behavior, pain sensitivity, and feed and water intakes were examined following dehorning. Sixty Holstein heifer calves were blocked by age and randomly assigned to receive an i.m. injection of meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg) or a placebo. All calves were given a lidocaine cornual nerve block (5 mL per horn). Treatments and nerve blocks were administered 10 min before cautery dehorning. Continuous sampling of behavior was performed during five 1-h intervals using video recordings, and total daily activity was monitored using an accelerometer. A pain sensitivity test was administered with a pressure algometer, and feed and water intakes were recorded daily. Calves were sham-dehorned 24 h before actual dehorning to establish baseline values, and all variables were assessed at the same times following dehorning and sham dehorning for up to 48 h post-dehorning. Meloxicam-treated calves displayed less ear flicking during the 44 h following dehorning (increases of 4.29+/-1.10 and 1.31+/-0.66 ear flicks/h in the first 24 h, and increases of 3.27+/-0.89 and 0.55+/-0.50 ear flicks/h during the second 24 h, for control and meloxicam calves, respectively) and less head shaking during the first 9 h following dehorning (increase of 2.53+/-0.54 and 0.85+/-0.46 headshakes/h over baseline for control and meloxicam, respectively). Meloxicam-treated calves were less active than controls during the first 5 h following dehorning (activity 34.1+/-3.2 and 30.6+/-2.6 for control and meloxicam, respectively) and displayed less sensitivity to pressure algometry 4 h after dehorning (pressure tolerance of 1.62+/-0.13 kg of force and 2.13+/-0.15 kg of force for control and meloxicam calves, respectively). Changes in behavior suggest that meloxicam was effective for reducing post-surgical pain and distress associated with calf dehorning.

A total of 1010 dry cows and pregnant heifers was randomly selected from 25 dairy farms near Guelph, Ontario, Canada to receive either a controlled-release capsule of monensin or a placebo at 3 wk prior to expected calving. Serum samples were obtained at the time of treatment administration, and both serum and milk samples were collected at wk 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 postcalving. The threshold used to define subclinical ketosis was selected a priori at a concentration of > or = 1200 mumol/L of beta-hydroxybutyrate. Using this threshold, the prevalence and incidence of subclinical ketosis were significantly reduced (50%) by monensin treatment. The duration of subclinical ketosis for cows that had been treated with monensin was also shorter than that for cows treated with the placebo. Monensin treatment significantly reduced the incidence of subclinical ketosis when the threshold was defined using higher concentrations of serum beta-hydroxybutyrate (1400 and 2000 mumol/L). In addition, monensin significantly reduced the prevalence of positive milk ketone tests.

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All DHI test-day data, including milk urea concentrations measured by infrared test method, were collected from 60 commercial Ontario Holstein dairy herds for a 13-mo period between December 1, 1995, and December 31, 1996. The objectives of this study were to describe the relationships between milk urea concentrations and seasonal factors, sampling factors, cow factors, and test-day production of milk, milk fat, protein, and SCC. Milk urea was associated with month and season; concentrations were the highest from July to September. Milk urea was generally lower in first-lactation cows. Milk urea was lowest during the first 60 d of lactation, higher between 60 and 150 d in milk, and lower after approximately 150 d in milk. In herds on an alternating a.m./p.m. test schedule, milk urea was generally lower in a.m. than p.m. tests. There was a positive nonlinear association between milk urea and milk yield, fat-corrected milk, and energy-corrected milk. There was a negative nonlinear association between milk urea and both milk fat and total protein percentages. While there was a negative nonlinear association between cow-level milk urea and linear score, the study found no association between herd average milk urea and herd average linear score. The associations described in this study using Dairy Herd Improvement test-day samples from commercial dairy herds and using an infrared test to measure milk urea are generally consistent with results from studies that used individual animals housed under research conditions and chemical methods to measure milk urea. Because milk urea varies by season, month, parity group, stage of lactation, and sample type, studies should control for these variables. Because of the apparent effect of a.m. and p.m. sampling on urea concentration, producers on an alternating a.m./p.m. test schedule should test routinely to establish a herd pattern for urea and submit the same sampling time consistently or both.