Evaluation of temporal and spatial clustering of horses with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection

Abstract

Abstract Objective To determine whether horses with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infections that were examined at a veterinary medical teaching hospital between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 1994 had patterns of temporal or spatial clustering. Animals 134 case and 800 control horses randomly selected from all non-case horses admitted during the study period. Procedures Admission date and geographic location were determined. Scan, Cuzick & Edwards’, and Knox tests were applied to determine whether case horses had patterns of temporal or spatial clustering. Results For all windows ≥ 3 days (134 case horses) and ≥ 7 days (subset of 69 case horses), results of the Scan test were significant. Results of Cuzick & Edwards’ test were significant for all data sets. A significant spatial cluster of case horses was observed for October, November, and December 1992. Results of the Knox test were significant for temporal intervals between 7 and 56 days and spatial intervals between 4.3 and 6.5 km. Higher Knox(x) proportions were observed for temporal intervals of 0 to 7, 8 to 14, 22 to 28, and 29 to 35 days. Conclusions Significant spatial and temporal clustering of horses with C pseudotuberculosis infection was detected. Clinical Relevance Analysis of the results strongly indicates that this disease is directly or indirectly (ie, short distance and time) transmitted. In addition, data analyses indicated an incubation period of 3 to 4 weeks. The disease could be transmitted through horse-to-horse contact or from infected to susceptible horses via insects, other vectors, or contaminated soil. (Am J Vet Res 1999;60:284–291)