Intranasal Bacterial Therapeutics Reduce Colonization by the Respiratory Pathogen Mannheimia haemolytica in Dairy Calves

Abstract

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the significant challenges for the modern dairy industry in North America, accounting for 23 to 47% of the total mortality among pre- and postweaned dairy heifers. Mass medication with antibiotics is a common practice to control BRD in dairy cattle. However, the emergence of multidrug-resistant BRD pathogens highlights the importance of developing alternatives to antibiotics for BRD mitigation. Using a targeted approach, we recently identified 6 Lactobacillus strains originating from the bovine respiratory microbiota as candidates to be used as bacterial therapeutics (BTs) for the mitigation of the BRD pathogen Mannheimia haemolytica . Here, we demonstrated that intranasal inoculation of the BT strains reduced nasal colonization by M. haemolytica in dairy calves experimentally challenged with this pathogen. This study, for the first time, shows the potential use of intranasal BTs as an alternative to mitigate BRD pathogens in cattle.