A survey of visitors on Swedish livestock farms with reference to the spread of animal diseases

Maria Nöremark,Jenny Frössling,Susanna Lewerin

doi:10.1186/1746-6148-9-184

Maria Nöremark, Jenny Frössling + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-9-184

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Abstract

BackgroundIn addition to livestock movements, other between-farm contacts such as visitors may contribute to the spread of contagious animal diseases. Knowledge about such contacts is essential for contingency planning. Preventive measures, risk-based surveillance and contact tracing may be facilitated if the frequency and type of between-farm contacts can be assessed for different types of farms. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and types of visitors on farms with cloven-hoofed animals in Sweden and to analyse whether there were differences in the number of visitors attributable to region, season, and type of herd. Data were collected from Swedish farmers through contact-logs covering two-week periods during four different seasons.ResultsIn total, 482 (32%) farmers filled in the contact log for at least one period and the data represent 18,416 days. The average number of professional and non-professional visitors per day was 0.3 and 0.8, respectively. Whereas the number of professional visitors seemed to increase with increasing herd size, this relation was not seen for non-professional visits. The mean numbers of visitors per day were highest in the summer and in the farm category ‘small mixed farm’. Reports of the visitors’ degree of contact with the animals showed that veterinarians, AI-technicians, animal transporters and neighbours were often in direct contact with the animals or entered the stables and 8.8% of the repairmen were also in direct contact with animals, which was unexpected. In a multivariable analysis, species, herd size and season were significantly associated with the number of professional visitors as well as the number of visitors in direct contact with the animals.ConclusionIn conclusion there was a large variation between farms in the number and type of contacts. The number of visitors that may be more likely to spread diseases between farms was associated with animal species and herd size.

Highlights

In addition to livestock movements, other between-farm contacts such as visitors may contribute to the spread of contagious animal diseases
Whereas the number of professional visitors seemed to increase with herd size, this relation was not seen for non-professional visits
Results from multivariable regressions In the final models, the number of professional visitors, as well as the number of visitors in direct contact with animals were significantly associated with species, herd size and season (Tables 4 and 5)

Summary

Introduction

In addition to livestock movements, other between-farm contacts such as visitors may contribute to the spread of contagious animal diseases. Knowledge about such contacts is essential for contingency planning. Many diseases, e.g. foot- and Assessments of the type and frequency of contacts such as visitors can be used in contingency planning as an indication of what can be expected regarding number of contacts during an outbreak. This information can be relevant for assessing potential spread and when designing forms for contact tracing. There were 9,152 agricultural enterprises with sheep and of these, one third had 50 ewes [10]

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