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Epidemiological characteristics of bovine herpesvirus 1 infections determined by bulk milk testing of all Dutch dairy herds
Author(s) -
Van Wuijckhuise L.,
Bosch J.,
Franken P.,
Frankena K.,
Elbers A. R. W.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.142.8.181
Subject(s) - herd , bovine herpesvirus 1 , zoology , veterinary medicine , stock (firearms) , biology , dairy cattle , medicine , virus , immunology , herpesviridae , geography , viral disease , archaeology
Samples of bulk milk were taken from all 33,636 Dutch dairy herds in November 1994 and tested for the presence of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV‐1) antibodies with a gB‐blocking ELISA. Sixteen per cent of the herds had a negative BHV‐1 status in the bulk milk. Farms with only dairy cows were 1.9 times more likely to have a negative or weakly positive BHV‐1 status than herds which also had beef/veal animals. Farms in areas containing less than one herd/km 2 were 1.5 times more likely to have a negative or weakly positive BHV‐1 status than herds in areas with more than three herds/km 2 . Differences in numbers of animals per unit area were not significantly associated with BHV‐1 status. The probability of herds having a negative or weakly positive BHV‐1 status decreased linearly with herd size by a factor of 1.2 per 10 animals. The purchase of stock was significantly associated with a negative or weakly positive BHV‐1 status, but there was an interaction between farm type and purchase of stock. For farms with both dairy and beef/veal animals there was a weak association between the purchase of stock and BHV‐1 status. For pure dairy herds the probability of having a negative or weakly positive BHV‐1 status decreased linearly with the numbers of purchased stock by a factor of 1.3 per 10 animals purchased.