Prevalence of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV), Bovine Herpes Virus 1 (BHV 1), Leptospirosis and Neosporosis, and associated risk factors in 161 Irish beef herds
Date
2018-01-06
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Publisher
Springer Nature (BMC)
Abstract
Background: There are limited data available, in Ireland or elsewhere, to determine the extent of exposure to
various endemic diseases among beef cows and factors associated with exposure to causative pathogens. The
objectives of this study were to determine the herd and within herd prevalence of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus
(BVDV), Bovine Herpes Virus 1 (BHV-1), Leptospirosis and Neosporosis in a large scale study of commercial beef
herds on the island of Ireland, and to examine herd level factors associated with exposure to these pathogens in
these herds.
Results: The average number of cows tested per herd was 35.5 (median 30). Herd level seroprevalence to Bovine
Herpesvirus-1(BHV-1), Bovine Viral-Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV), Leptospirosis and Neosporosis was 90%, 100%, 91% and
67%, respectively, while the mean within herd prevalence for the these pathogens was 40%, 77.7%, 65.7% and 5.7%,
respectively. The study confirms that the level of seroconversion for the four pathogens of interest increases with
herd size. There was also evidence that exposure to one pathogen may increase the risk of exposure to another
pathogen.
Conclusions: Herd level seroprevalences were in excess of 90% for BVDV, BHV-1 and Leptosporosis. Larger herds
were subject to increased exposure to disease pathogens. This study suggests that exposure to several pathogens
may be associated with the further exposure to other pathogens.
Description
Publication history: Accepted - 19 December 2017; Published online - 06 January 2018.
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Keywords
Beef cow herds, BVDV, BHV-1, Neosporosis, Leptospirosis, Herd size, Pathogen associations
Citation
Barrett, D., Parr, M., Fagan, J., Johnson, A., Tratalos, J., Lively, F., Diskin, M. and Kenny, D. (2018) ‘Prevalence of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV), Bovine Herpes Virus 1 (BHV 1), Leptospirosis and Neosporosis, and associated risk factors in 161 Irish beef herds’, BMC Veterinary Research, 14(1). doi: 10.1186/s12917-017-1324-9.