Abstract
BackgroundAnimal movement is considered the most significant factor in the transmission of infectious diseases in livestock. A better understanding of its effects would help provide a more reliable estimation of the disease spread and help develop effective control measures. If the movement pattern is heterogeneous, its characteristics should be considered in epidemiological analyses, such as when using simulation models to obtain reliable outputs. In Japan, following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy epidemic, a traceability system for cattle was established in 2003, and the registration of all cattle movements in the national database began. This study is the first to analyze cattle movements in Japan. We examined regional and seasonal heterogeneity in dairy cow movements, which accounted for most Japanese breeding cattle.ResultsIn the 14 years from April 2005 to March 2018, 4,577,709 between-farm movements of dairy cows were recorded, and the number of movements was counted by month and age for both inter- and intra-regional movements. As a result, two characteristic round-trip movements were observed: one was non-seasonal and inter-regional movements related to cattle-breeding ranches in Hokkaido (the northern region of Japan), which consists of the movement of cows around ages 6 to 8 and 21 to 23 months old. In addition, the seasonal movement of heifers for summer grazing within Hokkaido occurred in May and October at the peak ages of 13 to 14 and 19 to 20 months old, respectively. The observed heterogeneity seemed to reflect the suitability of raising the Holstein breed in Hokkaido and the shortage of supply of replacement heifers and available farming areas outside Hokkaido.ConclusionsUnderstanding the patterns of dairy cow movements will help develop reliable infectious disease models and be beneficial for developing effective control measures against these diseases.
Highlights
Animal movement is considered the most significant factor in the transmission of infectious diseases in livestock
This study examined the geographical and seasonal heterogeneity of cattle movement in Japan to assist with the development of control measures or modeling studies
We focused on dairy cows, which form the majority (68 %) of breeding cattle and are expected to reflect the complexity of cattle movement in Japan
Summary
Animal movement is considered the most significant factor in the transmission of infectious diseases in livestock. If the movement pattern is heterogeneous, its characteristics should be considered in epidemiological analyses, such as when using simulation models to obtain reliable outputs. This study is the first to analyze cattle movements in Japan. The movement of animals is one of the most important routes of infectious disease transmission in livestock. In the case of infectious diseases with a long incubation period, such as bovine tuberculosis, the movement of infected cattle is known to. As infectious disease modeling becomes a more popular technique for predicting the spread of diseases and evaluating the effectiveness of control measures, the use of a more realistic animal movement pattern is important. Animal movement patterns will be subject to various influences, such as geographical, environmental, economic, and biological factors
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