Herd-level risk factors for bovine tuberculosis and adoption of related biosecurity measures in Northern Ireland: A case-control study

O’Hagan, Maria; Matthews, D.I.; Laird, Christopher; McDowell, S.W.J.

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2016.03.021

Cited by 33 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…Here, infection may originate from a shared contaminated environment (e.g., housing or grazing), which could lead to prolonged breakdowns if associated herds also contained infected animals. It may also point to shared use of equipment, or the spreading of contaminated slurry across multiple farms (O'Hagan et al, 2016). The positive relationship between local geography and prolonged breakdowns identified here has been observed previously in GB and the ROI (Olea-Popelka et al, 2008;Reilly & Courtenay, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…We suggest that geographical location variables (DVO and patch) are also a proxy for highly localised factors which could potentially influence breakdown length via exposure to other infected hosts in the area. These include degree of farm fragmentation, conacre use (shared grazing practice), and opportunities for contact with neighboring cattle (O'Hagan et al, 2016;White et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bovine tuberculosis breakdown duration in cattle herds: an investigation of herd, host, pathogen and wildlife risk factors

Milne

Allen

Graham

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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Background Despite rigorous controls placed on herds which disclose ante-mortem test positive cattle to bovine tuberculosis, caused by the infection of Mycobacterium bovis, many herds in Northern Ireland (NI) experience prolonged breakdowns. These herds represent a considerable administrative and financial burden to the State and farming community. Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted to better understand the factors associated with breakdown duration, which was modelled using both negative binomial and ordinal regression approaches. Results Six explanatory variables were important predictors of breakdown length in both models; herd size, the number of reactors testing positive in the initial SICCT test, the presence of a lesioned animal at routine slaughter (LRS), the count of M. bovis genotypes during the breakdown (MLVA richness), the local herd-level bTB prevalence, and the presence of herds linked via management factors (associated herds). We report that between 2008 and 2014, mean breakdown duration in NI was 226 days (approx. seven months; median: 188 days). In the same period, however, more than 6% of herds in the region remained under movement restriction for more than 420 days (13 months); almost twice as long as the mean. The MLVA richness variable was a particularly important predictor of breakdown duration. We contend that this variable primarily represents a proxy for beef fattening herds, which can operate by purchasing cattle and selling animals straight to slaughter, despite prolonged trading restrictions. For other herd types, the model supports the hypothesis that prolonged breakdowns are a function of both residual infection within the herd, and infection from the environment (e.g. infected wildlife, contiguous herds and/or a contaminated environment). The impact of badger density on breakdown duration was assessed by including data on main sett (burrow) density. Whilst a positive association was observed in the univariate analysis, confounding with other variables means that the contribution of badgers to prolonged breakdowns was not clear from our study. We do not fully reject the hypothesis that badgers are implicated in prolonging bTB breakdowns via spillback infection, but given our results, we posit that increased disease risk from badgers is unlikely to simply be a function of increasing badger density measured using sett metrics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovine tuberculosis breakdown duration in cattle herds: an investigation of herd, host, pathogen and wildlife risk factors

Milne

Allen

Graham

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Arguably, to some extent it is, but there are known biosecurity measures that can be adopted by farmers to greatly reduce the risk of bTB incursion into their herds (O'Hagan et al . ), although the same prescribed methods may not work on every farm. An approach embracing heterogeneity ‘emphasizes that … networks of complex social and technological systems, such as disease containment, are often open, emergent and highly context specific, and therefore consistently defy prediction and control’ (Fish et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framing bovine tuberculosis: a ‘political ecology of health’ approach to circulation of knowledge(s) about animal disease control

Robinson

2017

Geographical Journal

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Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) remains a significant animal health problem with a global distribution. In addition to the ecological complexities, socio‐economic and socio‐cultural factors also affect efforts to control and eliminate the disease. Interrogating bTB from the author's positionality of being both a veterinary epidemiologist and a human geographer, this interdisciplinary engagement in the political ecology of health investigates the experiences and opinions of the actors involved in disease control. The findings of this research in one part of the United Kingdom – Northern Ireland – demonstrate gaps between expert scientific discourse and circulating on‐the‐ground perceptions and lay knowledges of the disease. bTB is therefore known and framed in multiple, often antithetical, ways by those who meet and experience the disease on farms. The paper concludes that farmers, vets and state policy‐makers must accept the heterogeneity of the disease; make it visible again; and create new imaginaries for a future where bTB is no longer an everyday ubiquity.

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“…Ireland (Abernethy et al, 2006;Doyle et al, 2014;Doyle et al, 2016;O'Hagan et al, 2016aO'Hagan et al, , 2016bSkuce et al, 2010;Wright et al, 2015), socioeconomic and sociocultural factors Accepted version: Published 31 August 2017 in Journal of Rural Studies,55,[168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180] affecting the economies of cattle farming and its regulation by the institutions of the state are an important part of the 'chain of explanation' (Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987), emphasizing the need to combine natural and social science in the search for potential solutions. Within veterinary epidemiology and animal health research in general, the value of qualitative research investigating attitudes and behaviours of farmers is increasingly recognised.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers and bovine tuberculosis: Contextualising statutory disease control within everyday farming lives

Robinson

2017

Journal of Rural Studies

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Farmers are important stakeholders to be enrolled in national efforts to control and eliminate endemic livestock diseases by state veterinary authorities. Their cooperation (or otherwise) has significant influence on the success of statutory disease control efforts, and when accomplishment does not meet aspiration, farmers may be blamed by the state for perceived failures. Approaching disease control within a political ecology framework and using a qualitative social science investigation of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Northern Ireland as a case study, this empirical paper explores the rationales and sensibilities of cattle farmers and the agricultural political economy and regulatory framework within which they operate in this region of the United Kingdom. This is important for understanding the farming context within which bTB is located, and this context is a feature of the disease landscape which has been underdeveloped in the bTB literature to date. Examining the premise that farmers are part of the problem of bTB, and a link in the chain of explanation as to why the disease has not yet been eliminated from the region, the paper will trace what everyday life is like for farmers living with multiple uncertainties and indeterminacies in their farming presents and futures. bTB as a disease is but one important influence on their farming lives-there are competing others which attract their attention and employ their resources, often pushing bTB down the list of priorities, despite its substantial cost to the economy. It will also demonstrate that farmers are embedded within wider structures, particularly global markets and European Union regulatory regimes, which profoundly condition and shape their actions, often elucidating

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Herd-level risk factors for bovine tuberculosis and adoption of related biosecurity measures in Northern Ireland: A case-control study

Cited by 33 publications

References 38 publications

Bovine tuberculosis breakdown duration in cattle herds: an investigation of herd, host, pathogen and wildlife risk factors

Bovine tuberculosis breakdown duration in cattle herds: an investigation of herd, host, pathogen and wildlife risk factors

Framing bovine tuberculosis: a ‘political ecology of health’ approach to circulation of knowledge(s) about animal disease control

Farmers and bovine tuberculosis: Contextualising statutory disease control within everyday farming lives

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