DETECT: A Non-Invasive and Automated Real-Time Disease Detection Tool for Cattle

The proposed project focusses on developing an **AUTOMATED** data-driven **INNOVATION** for **NON-INVASIVE** and **REAL-TIME** monitoring of respiratory disease in dairy-bred calves. Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most serious issue facing beef and dairy farmers, costing the UK sector alone around £80M per annum (Zoetis 2022) through mortality, veterinary costs, increased labour and reduced animal productivity at the point of infection, but also in later life.

The **AMBITION** of **DETECT** is to utilise state-of-the-art technology, alongside commercially relevant lower-cost sensors, to characterise the volatile metabolites found on the breath of healthy cattle, and of those diagnosed with respiratory infection. The system will be designed with flexibility in mind -- in that it will be able to integrate into any calf shed/equipment to provide **ADAPTABLE**, **AUTOMATED** and **REAL-TIME** monitoring of disease at the individual animal level.

The **KEY OBJECTIVES** of **DETECT**:

1.Develop an automated disease-detection system, based on passive measurement of breath from individual calves.

2.Identify differences in the breath of healthy and BRD-diagnosed calves, using these findings to optimise a low-cost automated real-time sensor system.

3.Apply advanced data analytics to distinguish between breath and cattle shed background, and to develop models for disease detection.

4.Demonstrate the ability of the tool to diagnose (sub-) clinical instances of BRD across a range of farm management and feeding systems.

5.Develop a user-friendly decision-support platform to aid early health and management decisions by co-designing the platform with end-users and understanding opportunities and challenges.

The project will develop the first passive breath monitoring system designed specifically for calves for the early detection of BRD. This will facilitate early intervention and optimise treatment of individual animals. Reducing the impact of disease in younger calves will improve production efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions/kg product (through reduced losses associated with mortality and poor performance). Optimised disease management offers aligned societal benefits (improved welfare, optimised antimicrobial use) and will support increased resilience of the UK's beef and dairy sectors.