The Library

Risk factors for herd breakdown with bovine tuberculosis in 148 cattle herds in the south west of England

Tools

Ramírez Villaescusa, Ana, Medley, Graham, Mason, Sam (Sam A.) and Green, Laura E.. (2010) Risk factors for herd breakdown with bovine tuberculosis in 148 cattle herds in the south west of England. Preventative Veterinary Medicine, Vol.95 (No.3-4). pp. 224-230. ISSN 0167-5877

Preview

PDF
WRAP_Green_210711-pvm_09-1429_revision1_manuscript_march10_for_wrap.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (242Kb)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2010.03.009

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is caused by Mycobacterium bovis. The disease has a long latent period, heterogenous spread, can infect many species and can persist in the environment. In the UK, the rate of herd breakdowns (HBD) with bTB is increasing. A retrospective cohort study of 148 cattle herds was set up to investigate risk factors for HBD from October 2001 to November 2004. Herds were selected from farms located in the randomised badger culling trial (RBCT) and comprised holdings (24%) that were restocked with cattle after the foot and mouth disease (FMD) epidemic in 2001 and holdings (76%) that were continuously stocked throughout the FMD epidemic. Farmers were interviewed between June 2003 and February 2004. Questions on herd and farm management were asked for the period October 2001 to June 2003. Data on herd testing for bTB were sourced from the VetNet database and historic data from 1995 were used in the analysis. A discrete time survival analysis was used to examine factors associated with the risk of HBD. By the end of the study period. November 2004, 50% of study herds had experienced a HBD with bTB at least once. Farms that were restocked for less than 1 year after FMD had a reduced risk of HBD (P < 0.01) compared with continuously stocked farms in the same year. This reduced risk did not persist after 1 year of restocking. Feeding vitamin and mineral lick supplements compared with not feeding these supplements also reduced the risk of HBD. Factors associated with an increased risk of HBD were storing manure and slurry indoors or in a closed container, spreading manure all year round, herds with dairy cattle compared with herds without dairy cattle, increasing herd size, purchase of cattle from markets, location of the farm in the proactive area of the RBCT compared with survey only and location of farms in Somerset and North Devon. The lower risk of HBD in the first year after restocking but not the second or third year suggests that removal of all cattle might have lowered the infectious load of M. bovis on these premises for a period of time but that this did not persist once cattle were reintroduced. Purchase of cattle from markets suggests that there was a risk of introduction or re-introduction of bTB from these cattle. Method of storage or lack of storage of slurry might aid persistence of M. bovis in the environment if M. bovis survives in slurry in some circumstances.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) > Biological Sciences ( -2010)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Tuberculosis in cattle -- Etiology
Journal or Publication Title:	Preventative Veterinary Medicine
Publisher:	Elsevier Science BV
ISSN:	0167-5877
Date:	1 July 2010
Volume:	Vol.95
Number:	No.3-4
Number of Pages:	7
Page Range:	pp. 224-230
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.prevetmed.2010.03.009
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Great Britain) (BBSRC), Great Britain. Dept. for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Grant number:	SE3026 (DEFRA)
References:	Carrique-Mas, J.J., Medley, G.F., Green, L.E., 2008. Risks for bovine tuberculosis in British cattle farms restocked after the foot and mouth disease epidemic of 2001. Prev. Vet. Med. 84, 85-93. Clifton-Hadley, R.S., Wilesmith, J.W., Richards, M.S., Upton, P., Johnston, S., 1995. The occurrence of Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle in and around an area subject to extensive badger (Meles meles) control. Epidemiol. Infect. 114, 179-193. Costello, E., Egan, J.W., Quigley, F.C., O'Reilly, P.F., 1997. Performance of the single intradermal comparative tuberculin test in identifying cattle with tuberculous lesions in Irish herds. Vet. Rec. 141, 222-224. Denny, G.O., Wilesmith, J.W., 1999. Bovine tuberculosis in Northern Ireland: a case-control study of herd risk factors. Vet.Rec. 144, 305-310. DEFRA, 2007. Bovine TB: The Scientific Evidence. A Science Policy to Control TB in Cattle. An Epidemiological Investigation into Bovine Tuberculosis. Final Reportof the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB. Donnelly, C.A., Wei, G., Johnston, W.T., Cox, D.R., Woodroffe, R., Bourne, F.J., Cheeseman, C.L., Clifton-Hadley, R.S., Gettinby, G., Gilks, P., Jenkins, H.E., Le Fevre, A.M., McInerney, J.P., Morrison, W.I., 2007. Impacts of widespread badger culling on cattle tuberculosis: concluding analyses from a large-scale field trial. Int. J. Infect. Dis. 11, 300-308. Downs, S.H., Durr, P., Edwards, J., Clifton-Hadley, R., 2008. Trace micro-nutrients may affect susceptibility to bovine tuberculosis in cattle. Prev. Vet. Med. 87, 311-326. Dubos, R.J., 1955. Effect of metabolic factors on the susceptibility of Albino mice to experimental tuberculosis. J. Exp. Med. 101, 59-84. Enticott, G., 2009. 'Unravelling the Multiple Expertise of the Veterinary Protocol', XXIII ESRS Congress, 17-21 August 2009 ('Re-Inventing the Rural: Between the Natural and the Social'), Vaasa, Finland. Gibbens, J.C., Sharpe, C.E., Wilesmith, J.W., Mansley, L.M., Michalopoulou, E., Ryan, J.B., Hudson, M., 2001. Descriptive epidemiology of the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in Great Britain: the first five months. Vet. Rec. 149, 729-743. Griffin, J.M., Hahesy, T., Lynch, K., 1992. The role of farm management practices and environmental factors in chronic tuberculosis. Irish Veterinary Journal 45, 120-122. Griffin, J.M., Hahesy, T., Lynch, K., Salman, M.D., McCarthy, J., Hurley, T., 1993. The association of cattle husbandry practices, environmental factors and farmer characteristics with the occurrence of chronic bovine tuberculosis in dairy herds in the Republic of Ireland. Prev.Vet. Med. 17, 145-160. Griffin, J.M., Martin, S.W., Thorburn, M.A., Eves, J.A., Hammond, R.F., 1996. A case-control study on the association of selected risk factors with the occurrence of bovine tuberculosis in the Republic of Ireland. Prev. Vet. Med. 27, 217-229. Griffin, J.M., Williams, D.H., Kelly, G.E., Clegg, T.A., O'Boyle, I., Collins, J.D., More, S.J., 2005. The impact of badger removal on the control of tuberculosis in cattle herds in Ireland. Prev. Vet. Med. 67, 237-266. Johnston, W.T., Gettinby, G., Cox, D.R., Donnelly, C.A., Bourne, J., Clifton-Hadley, R., Le Fevre, A.M., McInerney, J.P., Mitchell, A., Morrison, W.I., Woodroffe, R., 2005. Herd-level risk factors associated with tuberculosis breakdowns among cattle herds in England before the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic. Biol. Lett. 1, 53-56. Krebs, J.R., Anderson, R., Clutton-Brock, T., Morrison, I., Young, D., Donnelly, C., 1997. Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers Report. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. HMSO. London. Le Fevre, A.M., C., D., Cox, D.R., Bourne, F.J., Clifton-Hadley, R., Gettinby, G., Johnston, S., McInerney, J.P., Morrison, I., Woodroffe, R., 2005. The impact of localised reactive badger culling versus no culling on TB incidence in British cattle: a randomised trial. http//www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/isg/pdf/lefevre. Marangon, S., Martini, M., Dalla Pozza, M., Neto, F., 1998. A case-control study on bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region (Italy). Prev.Vet. Med. 34, 87-95. Martin, S.W., Eves, J.A., Dolan, L.A., Hammond, R.F., Griffin, J.M., Collins, J.D., Shoukri, M.M., 1997. The association between the bovine tuberculosis status of herds in the East Offaly Project Area and the distance to badger setts 1988-1993. Prev. Vet. Med. 31, 113-125. Menzies, F.D., Neill, S.D., 2000. Cattle-to-cattle transmission of bovine tuberculosis. Vet. J. 160, 92-106. Mitchell, A.P., Green, L.E., Clifton-Hadley, R., Mawdsley, J., Sayers, R., Medley, G.F., 2006. An analysis of single intradermal comparative cervical test (SICCT) coverage in the GB cattle population. Proceedings of the Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (SVEPM). Exeter 29th – 31st March. UK. Monaghan, M.L., Doherty, M.L., Collins, J.D., Kazda, J.F., Quinn, P.J., 1994. The tuberculin test. Vet. Microbiol. 40, 111-124. O'Reilly, L.M., Daborn, C.J., 1995. The epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis infections in animals and man: a review. Tuber Lung Dis 76 Suppl 1, 1-46. Pfeiffer, D.U., Morris, R.S., 1991. Tuberculosis Breakdowns in Cattle Herds in New Zealand. A Case-Control Study. In, Proceedings of a Symposium on Tuberculosis, Veterinary Continuing Education, Massey University, New Zealand., pp. 277-290. Porphyre, T., Stevenson, M.A., McKenzie, J., 2008. Risk factors for bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand cattle farms and their relationship with possum control strategies. Prev. Vet. Med. 86, 93-106. Rasbash, J., Steele, F., Browne, W., Prosser, B., 2004. A User's Guide to MLwiN, Version 2.0. Centre for Multilevel Modelling, Institute of Education, University of London. Reilly, L.A., Courtenay, O., 2007. Husbandry practices, badger sett density and habitat composition as risk factors for transient and persistent bovine tuberculosis on UK cattle farms. Prev. Vet. Med. 80, 129-142. Scanlon, M.P., Quinn, P.J., 2000. The survival of Mycobacterium bovis in sterilised cattle slurry and its relevance to the persistence of this pathogen in the environment. Irish Veterinary Journal 53, 412-415. Thrusfield, M., 2005. Veterinary Epidemiology. Third Edition. Blackwell Publishing. Woodbine, K.A., Medley, G.F., Moore, S.J., Ramirez-Villaescusa, A., Mason, S., Green, L.E., 2008. A four year longitudinal sero-epidemiology study of Neospora caninum in adult cattle from 114 cattle herds in south west England: Associations with age, herd and dam-offspring pairs. BMC Veterinary Research 4:35. Woodbine, K.A., Medley, G.F., Moore, S.J., Ramirez-Villaescusa, A., Mason, S., Green, L.E., 2009a. A four year longitudinal sero-epidemiology of bovine herpesvirus type-1 (BHV-1) in adult cattle in 107 unvaccinated herds in south west England. BMC Veterinary Research 5:5. Woodbine, K.A., Schukken, Y.H., Green, L.E., Ramirez-Villaescusa, A., Mason, S., Moore, S.J., Bilbao, C., Swann, N., Medley, G.F., 2009b. Seroprevalence and epidemiological characteristics of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis on 114 cattle farms in south west England. Prev. Vet. Med. 89, 102-109. www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/index.htm. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. www.oie.int, World Organization for Animal Health.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/5541