Veterinary Epidemiology Unit, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SB, UK.
Statistical Services Branch, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, UK.
Epidemiol Infect. 2022 Oct 5;150:e176. doi: 10.1017/S0950268822001479.
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic, infectious and zoonotic disease of domestic and wild animals caused mainly by . This study investigated farm management factors associated with recurrent bTB herd breakdowns ( = 2935) disclosed in the period 23 May 2016 to 21 May 2018 and is a follow-up to our 2020 paper which looked at long duration bTB herd breakdowns. A case control study design was used to construct an explanatory set of farm-level management factors associated with recurrent bTB herd breakdowns. In Northern Ireland, a Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Veterinarian investigates bTB herd breakdowns using standardised guidelines to allocate a disease source. In this study, source was strongly linked to carryover of infection, suggesting that the diagnostic tests had failed to clear herd infection during the breakdown period. Other results from this study associated with recurrent bTB herd breakdowns were herd size and type (dairy herds 43% of cases), with both these variables intrinsically linked. Other associated risk factors were time of application of slurry, badger access to silage clamps, badger setts in the locality, cattle grazing silage fields immediately post-harvest, number of parcels of land the farmer associated with bTB, number of land parcels used for grazing and region of the country.
牛结核病（bTB）是一种由 引起的家畜和野生动物的慢性、传染性和人畜共患病。本研究调查了 2016 年 5 月 23 日至 2018 年 5 月 21 日期间披露的复发性 bTB 牛群暴发（n=2935）与农场管理因素之间的关系，这是我们 2020 年研究的后续，该研究探讨了长时间 bTB 牛群暴发的情况。采用病例对照研究设计，构建了与复发性 bTB 牛群暴发相关的农场级管理因素的解释性集合。在北爱尔兰，农业、环境和农村事务部（DAERA）兽医使用标准化指南调查 bTB 牛群暴发，以确定疾病源。在本研究中，源与感染的持续存在密切相关，这表明诊断测试未能在暴发期间清除牛群感染。本研究中与复发性 bTB 牛群暴发相关的其他结果还有牛群规模和类型（奶牛群占病例的 43%），这两个变量内在相关。其他相关的风险因素还有粪肥施用时间、獾对青贮饲料的接触、青贮饲料夹周围的獾窝、收获后牛群立即放牧青贮饲料地、农民与 bTB 相关的土地面积、用于放牧的土地面积和国家的地区。
