Epizootic Risk of Contagious Animal Pathology in Agro-Industrial Complex of the Northwestern Region of Russia

Abstract

Introduction. Urbanisation of territories creates a critical risk related to contagious animal diseases. The agro-industrial complex (AIC) of the Northwestern region is an important component of the food security system of the Russian Federation. The research is aimed at studying and defining the degree of epizootic risk of contagious animal diseases in the region, determining the degree of epizootic threat thereof at the population and interpopulation levels.Materials and methods. For conducting the study the comprehensive epizootological approach (analysis) was used, along with the methods of evidence-based epizootology, epizootological diagnostics, methods of modern prognostics and statistical methods of quality control.Results. Functioning of infectious parasitic systems have been studied under specific conditions of place and time, using digitalisation achievements and statistical quality control. The epizootological categories have been proposed and applied for the three-dimensional measurement of the epizootic manifestation of contagious diseases using the corresponding units for their mathematical measurement (indicator of ill-being, epizootic index, incidence and prevalence, pathogenicity spectrum, frequency, recurrence, seasonal epizootic growth and year-round disease incidence). All the above allows carrying out the epizootic supervision over the formation and functioning of separate nosological units in animal populations under specific conditions of place and time. Using the comprehensive epizootological approach and the evidence-based epizootological methodology, the degree of epizootic risk of contagious animal (bird) diseases in the agro-industrial complex of the Northwestern region was studied in relation to the various economic and technological levels of animal husbandry and the degree of territory urbanisation.Discussion and conclusions. It has been found that in the agro-industrial complex of the metropolis suburban area of the Northwestern region, there have formed and periodically appear 45 animal diseases, predominantly of infectious etiology (62.2 %). The different degree of diseases epizootic risk was revealed: from its absence, in case of 4 nosological units, up to high and very high degree, in case of 15 nosological units (33.3 % of the total number). Therefore, the purpose of the present work was to study the degree of the risk of infectious diseases potential occurrence in populations of production animals in various areas of the Northwestern region and to identify the cause-andeffect indicators underlying the differences.