Article

Factors associated with the early detection of foot-and-mouth disease during the 2001 epidemic in the United Kingdom.

Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
The Canadian veterinary journal. La revue veterinaire canadienne (impact factor: 1.06). 02/2009; 50(1):53-60. pp.53-60
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT An essential objective of an effective foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) eradication campaign is to shorten the infectious period by rapidly detecting and destroying cases of disease. The purpose of our investigation was to identify factors associated with the early detection of clinical FMD during the 2001 outbreak in the United Kingdom. We performed a logistic regression analysis, using early versus late detection of disease as the outcome of interest.During the 2001 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom, infected premises were more likely to be detected early under the following circumstances: 1) cattle (particularly dairy) were infected rather than sheep; 2) a recently confirmed infected premises was within 3 km of the new case; and 3) the case was initially reported by the farmer, rather than a Local Disease Control Centre-initiated surveillance activity (patrol, tracing, pre-emptive cull). Our findings suggest that reporting by farmers and initiatives that increase farmer education and awareness should be encouraged.

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    Article: Descriptive epidemiology of the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in Great Britain: the first five months.
    J C Gibbens, C E Sharpe, J W Wilesmith, L M Mansley, E Michalopoulou, J B Ryan, M Hudson
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    ABSTRACT: In February 2001, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was confirmed in Great Britain. A major epidemic developed, which peaked around 50 cases a day in late March, declining to under 10 a day by May. By mid-July, 1849 cases had been detected. The main control measures employed were livestock movement restrictions and the rapid slaughter of infected and exposed livestock. The first detected case was in south-east England; infection was traced to a farm in north-east England to which all other cases were linked. The epidemic was large as a result of a combination of events, including a delay in the diagnosis of the index case, the movement of infected sheep to market before FMD was first diagnosed, and the time of year. Virus was introduced at a time when there were many sheep movements around the country and weather conditions supported survival of the virus. The consequence was multiple, effectively primary, introductions of FMD virus into major sheep-keeping areas. Subsequent local spread from these introductions accounted for the majority of cases. The largest local epidemics were in areas with dense sheep populations and livestock dealers who were active during the key period. Most affected farms kept both sheep and cattle. At the time of writing the epidemic was still ongoing; however, this paper provides a basis for scientific discussion of the first five months.
    The Veterinary record 01/2002; 149(24):729-43. · 1.25 Impact Factor
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

cases
 
clinical FMD
 
detection
 
essential objective
 
factors
 
farmers
 
FMD
 
following circumstances
 
increase farmer education
 
infectious period
 
Local Disease Control Centre-initiated surveillance activity
 
logistic regression analysis
 
new case
 
pre-emptive cull
 
tracing
 
United Kingdom
 

Melissa McLaws