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Livestock

Description

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of antibodies to RVF virus (RVFV) in cattle, sheep, and goats in South Africa, near the 2010-2011 outbreak epicenter and identify factors associated with seropositivity.

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of antibodies to RVFV in domestic cattle, sheep, and goats in a study area in the central interior of South Africa, and to identify factors associated with seropositivity.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

Brucellosis is one of the world'•s most widespread zoonosis. It is caused by gram-negative bacilli of the genus Brucella.It is a risk to those occupationally exposed to animals such as farmers, veterinarians, laboratorians and butchers and to the public through the consumption of contaminated unprocessed milk, milk products and meats.The epidemiology of Brucella infections involves complex mechanisms which vary according to the disease determinants. Previous studies in Kenya have reported a prevalence range of between 5% - 45% in livestock as well as over 20% in humans in selected regions1. Therefore, risk factors observed in a particular agro-ecological region cannot easily be extrapolated to another area with different ecological settings and husbandry practices. A strategy for brucellosis control would greatly benefit from detailed knowledge of local epidemiology. The available data on brucellosis is not adequate enough to inform an effective control process. Decision makers frequently apply different strategies according to the prevalence and epidemiology of the disease. People who interact with livestock on a regular basis are thought to be at an increased risk of contracting zoonoses including Brucellosis. Previous studies on Brucellosis have focused either on human or animal disease. The current study simultaneously investigated the linkage in sero-prevalence between humans and their animals within the same household at the same time.

Objective

We determined the sero-prevalence and risk factors for brucellosis in humans and their animals in Kajiado and Kiambu Counties of Kenya. We also examined the linkage between the sero-status of humans and that of their livestock.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

Livestock owners normally pay the full cost of disease testing. As a result the number of laboratory submissions is dependent on the owner's perception that testing is beneficial. This decreases the likelihood of an accurate diagnosis and biases the number and type of samples received by a laboratory. Despite these limitations, laboratory data are commonly used for passive disease surveillance. The Ontario Farm-call Surveillance Project (OFSP) analyzed disease-related farm call data supplied by livestock veterinarians. Project goals were to provide a new data source for livestock disease monitoring and to improve the quality of laboratory data. As an incentive for participation, veterinarians were not charged when diagnostic samples were sent to the Animal Health Laboratory (AHL), University of Guelph.

Objective

To evaluate free diagnostic testing as an incentive for compliance with a livestock disease surveillance program.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

A case study presented at the November 2010 Iowa Annual Swine Disease Conference for Swine Practitioners detailed increases in STB lesions beginning January 2010 [1]. Producers were informed of the problem by their swine processing facility. Tissue samples from affected producers were culture-positive for Mycobacterium avium. In the spring of 2010, USDA Veterinary Services (VS) began monitoring weekly ADRS STB carcass condemn data after a VS Staff Officer was made aware of unusual increases in STB condemns in another region. By June 2010, STB condemn rates in both of the affected areas decreased to typical seasonal levels; however, beginning January 2011 rates again rose beyond baseline seasonal highs, exceeding those seen in the 2010 outbreak.

Objective

This paper characterizes a regional outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in market swine by combining local swine producer-based information on condemned stock at slaughter with geographically broader FSIS Animal Disposition Reporting System (ADRS) data. This study aims to obtain summary information on anomalous swine TB (STB) condemns at slaughter, compare critical outbreak time frames between outbreak areas, and identify the geographical spread of abnormally high STB condems.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

The abattoir and the fallen stock surveys constitute the active surveillance component aimed at improving the detection of scrapie across the EU. Previous studies have suggested the occurrence of significant differences in the operation of the surveys throughout Europe. Del Rio Vilas et al assessed the presence of heterogeneity between the observed prevalence estimates of 18 EU countries by means of a meta-analysis and showed a large residual variability indicating an inconsistent approach to the surveys across the EU. The study of these differences merits attention as they inform discrepancies in the performance of the surveys between countries. In the absence of sufficient covariate information to explain the observed variability across countries, we can model, still under the general context of the meta-analysis, the unobserved heterogeneity in our data. Countries could be grouped into clusters representing the underlying subpopulations relative to the risk of scrapie between the two surveys in each country.

 

Objective

In the present study we assessed the standardisation of the active surveillance of scrapie throughout time across the EU and identified countries with similar underlying characteristics allowing comparisons between them.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

The livestock sector is vital to the socio-economic development of Nigeria; it contributes about 9-10% of agricultural GDP. Livestock represents an important source of high quality animal protein pro- viding about 36.5 % of total protein intake of Nigerians (1). Lagos State, located in the south-western part of Nigeria, has the smallest landmass (3577 sq. km) and the highest human population density (2519.75 per sq. km) in the Country (2). The State has a poultry pop- ulation of 2.5 million birds and the largest outlet for poultry products with 207 Live bird markets, 375 poultry farms and a large number of poultry products consumers (3). Avian influenza (“bird flu”) is an in- fectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The infection is known to cross species barrier to infect hu- mans (4). Between March 2006 and September 2007 Avian influenza (AI) outbreaks occurred in 99 poultry farms in Lagos State (3). The only human case of AI in Nigeria was detected at a health facility in Lagos in January 2007.

Objective

To assess the collaborative efforts in Avian Influenza control that could be harnessed for the control of other Zoonotic diseases.

Submitted by dbedford on
Description

EPS is a comprehensive effort to complement other types of surveillance and provide early detection and situational awareness of significant endemic, zoonotic, and emerging diseases of livestock. The concept for EPS involves gathering syndromic and observational data from multiple animal health surveillance sources, including private practitioners, livestock markets, livestock harvest facilities, and veterinary diagnostic laboratories. A signal indicating a potential animal health event in one data stream can be corroborated in the other streams. For swine surveillance in the U.S., USDA-APHIS monitors the number of swine condemned for specific reasons. Likewise, industry practitioners share front-line clinical information within their practitioner network to detect anomalies. This case summary demonstrates the successful outcome of implementing an EPS pilot program through Federal and industry partnership.

Objective

To describe detection and response for an erysipelas outbreak in market swine in the United States (U.S.) using Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) slaughter condemnation data, and coordination with the swine industry in an Enhanced Passive Surveillance (EPS) pilot project.

Submitted by teresa.hamby@d… on
Description

Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus is a tick-borne pathogen that causes severe disease in people, with a distribution that extends from central Asia to southern Africa. In addition to tick bites, contact with bodily fluids from viremic livestock or from symptomatic humans are risk factors for infection. From 2000 to 2013, 73 cases of CCHF were reported in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. CCHF virus is categorized as an “especially dangerous pathogen” in Kazakhstan and CCHF is prioritized for surveillance and treatment. Little is known about the seroprevalence of infection by CCHF virus in Zhambyl in ticks or people, and knowledge of risk factors for transmission of CCHF virus among at-risk populations is believed to be low.

Objective:

As part of CDC’s Global Disease Detection work, in conjunction with Zhambyl Region Department of Health, we conducted a tick survey and human seroprevalence Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey of livestock-owning households in Zhambyl to assess CCHF seroprevalence and risk factors.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

Pesticides are used in agriculture and in the home to control pests such as insects, weeds, fungi and rodents. Pesticide poisoning in animals is usually due to misuse or accidental exposure. Information on poisonings in livestock in North America is largely lacking. Examples of hotlines in the U.S. for animal poisoning consultations include the APCC ($65.00 fee) and the Pet Poison Helpline (PPH) ($59.00 fee). The APCC fields calls 24 hours/day, 7 days/week about animal poisonings from the U.S., its territories and Canada. Using data from almost 4 years of APCC calls we describe the occurrence, category and class of pesticides involved, and outcomes of suspected pesticide exposures in livestock. This information is useful to raise awareness, encourage the proper use of pesticides and identify specific pesticides with negative impact on livestock health.

Objective:

This study characterizes the epidemiology of suspected pesticide poisoning in livestock in the United States (U.S.) and Canada using data from calls to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Animal Poison Control Center (APCC).

Submitted by elamb on
Description

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is collaborating with epidemiologists of the US Dept. of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health (CEAH) to increase animal health surveillance capacity. CEAH monitors selected syndromic animal health indicators for stakeholder reporting. This project’s goal was to extend this capacity to bovine veterinary laboratory test accession data.

Objective:

Standardize selection of indicator data streams and corresponding alerting algorithms for syndromic, reportable disease, and confirmed diagnostic categories derived from veterinary laboratory test order data for bovines.

Submitted by elamb on