Search Results

Abstract

Objective—To investigate herd characteristics and management practices associated with a high seroprevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP) in dairy herds in central California.

Sample Population—60 randomly selected cows from each of 21 dairy herds.

Procedures—Sera of selected cows were tested for antibodies against MAP by use of an ELISA test kit. Cows with a test sample-to-positive control sample (S:P) ratio of ≥ 0.25 were considered seropositive, and herds with ≥ 4% seropositive cows were considered high-seroprevalence herds. Data on herd characteristics and management practices were collected via interviews with owners. Bayesian logistic regression was used to model the predictive probability of a herd having a high seroprevalence on the basis of various herd characteristics and management practices.

Results—9 of 21 (43%) herds were classified as high-seroprevalence herds. Five variables (history of previous signs of paratuberculosis in the herd, herd size, exposing cattle to water from manure storage lagoons, feeding unsalable milk to calves, and exposing heifers ≤ 6 months old to manure of adult cows) were included in the predictive model on the basis of statistical and biological considerations. In large herds, the predictive probability of a high seroprevalence of MAP infection decreased from 0.74 to 0.39 when management changed from poor to good practices. In small herds, a similar decrease from 0.64 to 0.29 was predicted.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—The seroprevalence of MAP infection in California dairies may be reduced by improvements in herd management practices.

Abstract

Objective—To estimate risk and identify risk factors for congenital infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) not resulting in persistent infection and examine effect of congenital infection on health of dairy calves.

Animals—466 calves.

Procedures—Calves from 2 intensively managed drylot dairies with different vaccination programs and endemic BVDV infection were sampled before ingesting colostrum and tested with their dams for BVDV and BVDV serum-neutralizing antibodies. Records of treatments and death up to 10 months of age were obtained from calf ranch or dairy personnel. Risk factors for congenital infection, including dam parity and BVDV titer, were examined by use of logistic regression analysis. Effect of congenital infection on morbidity and mortality rates was examined by use of survival analysis methods.

Results—Fetal infection was identified in 10.1% of calves, of which 0.5% had persistent infection and 9.6% had congenital infection. Although dependent on herd, congenital infection was associated with high BVDV type 2 titers in dams at calving and with multiparous dams. Calves with congenital infection had 2-fold higher risk of a severe illness, compared with calves without congenital infection.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—The unexpectedly high proportion of apparently healthy calves found to be congenitally infected provided an estimate of the amount of fetal infection via exposure of dams and thus virus transmission in the herds. Findings indicate that congenital infection with BVDV may have a negative impact on calf health, with subsequent impact on herd health. (Am J Vet Res 2003;64:358–365)

Abstract

Objective—To develop models that could be used to predict, for dairy calves, the age at which colostrumderived bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) antibodies would no longer offer protection against infection or interfere with vaccination.

Design—Prospective observational field study.

Animals—466 calves in 2 California dairy herds.

Procedure—Serum BVDV neutralizing antibody titers were measured from birth through 300 days of age. The age by which colostrum-derived BVDV antibodies had decayed sufficiently that calves were considered susceptible to BVDV infection (ie, titer ≤ 1:16) or calves became seronegative was modeled with survival analysis methods. Mixed-effects regression analysis was used to model colostrum-derived BVDV antibody titer for any given age.

Results—Half the calves in both herds became seronegative for BVDV type I by 141 days of age and for BVDV type II by 114 days of age. Rate of antibody decay was significantly associated with antibody titer at 1 to 3 days of age and with whether calves were congenitally infected with BVDV. Three-month-old calves were predicted to have a mean BVDV type-I antibody titer of 1:32 and a mean BVDV type-II antibody titer of 1:16.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results provide an improved understanding of the decay of BVDV-specific colostrum-derived antibodies in dairy calves raised under typical field conditions. Knowledge of the age when the calf herd becomes susceptible can be useful when designing vaccination programs aimed at minimizing negative effects of colostrum-derived antibodies on vaccine efficacy while maximizing overall calf herd immunity. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002;221:678–685)

Abstract

Objective—To develop a method of probability diagnostic assignment (PDA) that uses continuous serologic measures and infection prevalence to estimate the probability of an animal being infected, using Neospora caninum as an example.

Animals—196 N caninum-infected beef and dairy cattle and 553 cattle not infected with N caninum; 50 dairy cows that aborted and 50 herdmates that did not abort.

Procedure—Probability density functions corresponding to distributions of N caninum kinetic ELISA results from infected and uninfected cattle were estimated by maximum likelihood methods. Maximum likelihood methods also were used to estimate N caninum infection prevalence in a herd that had an excessive number of abortions. Density functions and the prevalence estimate were incorporated into Bayes formula to calculate the conditional probability that a cow with a particular ELISA value was infected with N caninum.

Results—Probability functions identified for infected and uninfected cattle were Weibull and inverse gamma functions, respectively. Herd prevalence was estimated, and probabilities of N caninum infection were determined for cows with various ELISA values.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Use of PDA offers an advantage to clinicians and diagnosticians over traditional seronegative or seropositive classifications used as a proxy for infection status by providing an assessment of the actual probability of infection. The PDA permits use of all diagnostic information inherent in an assay, thereby eliminating a need for estimates of sensitivity and specificity. The PDA also would have general utility in interpreting results of any diagnostic assay measured on a continuous or discrete scale. Am J Vet Res (2002; 63:318–325)

Abstract

Objective—To determine management, fish, and environmental risk factors for increased mortality and an increased proportion of runts for white sturgeon exposed to white sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV) and white sturgeon herpesvirus-2 (WSHV-2).

Animals—White sturgeon in 57 tanks at 1 farm and observations made for fish at another farm.

Procedure—A prospective cohort study was conducted. Data on mortality, proportion of runts, and potential risk factors were collected. Five fish from each tank were examined for WSIV and WSHV-2 via inoculation of susceptible cell lines and microscopic examination of stained tissue sections. An ANCOVA was used to evaluate effects of risk factors on mortality and proportion of runts.

Results—Major determinants of number of dead fish (natural logarithm [ln]-transformed) were spawn, source (90% confidence interval [CI] for regression coefficient, 0.62 to 2.21), and stocking density (90% CI, 0.003 to 0.03). Main predictors of proportion of runts (ln-transformed) were spawn, mortality incidence density (90% CI, 0.004 to 0.03), age (90% CI, –0.012 to –0.004), and the difference in weight between the largest and smallest nonrunt fish (90% CI, 0.0002 to 1.24). Additional observations indicated a possible protective effect attributable to previous exposure to the viruses.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Mortality and proportion of runts for white sturgeon after exposure to WSIV and WSHV-2 may be reduced for a farm at which the viruses are endemic by selection of specific broodstock, stocking with fish that survived outbreaks of viral disease, using all-in, all-out production, and decreasing stocking densities. (Am J Vet Res 2000;61:1232–1240)

Abstract

Objective—To investigate the epidemiologic and financial impacts of targeted sampling of subpopulations of cows, compared with random sampling of all cows, for classification of dairy herd infection status for paratuberculosis.

Animals—All cows from 4 infected herds with a low-to-moderate prevalence of paratuberculosis and from 1 noninfected herd in California.

Procedure—The infection status of each cow was classified on the basis of results of an ELISA or combined ELISA and fecal culture results. Thirteen sampling schemes designed to randomly sample cows on the basis of lactation number, stage of lactation, and milk production were evaluated. Sampling without replacement was used to obtain a probability of herd detection of paratuberculosis for each evaluated sampling method and for simulated sample sizes between 30 and 150 cows. Marginal cost-effectiveness analysis was used to determine the cost increase relative to the increase in detection probability.

Results—Sampling cows in the third or higher lactation and ≥200 days into lactation yielded the highest detection probability in most instances, resulting in a detection probability that was 1.4 to 2.5 times that obtained by sampling 30 cows in the second or higher lactation. Costs of testing via the alternative method with a 95% detection probability were approximately $300 lower in a high-prevalence herd (31%) and $800 lower in a low-prevalence herd (9%), compared with use of the reference method.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Detection of herds with paratuberculosis could be improved, and costs of testing substantially reduced by sampling targeted groups of cows.

Abstract

Objective—To estimate sensitivity and specificity of 4 commonly used brucellosis screening tests in cattle and domestic water buffalo of Trinidad, and to compare test parameter estimates between cattle and water buffalo.

Animals—391 cattle and 381 water buffalo.

Procedure—4 Brucella-infected herds (2 cattle and 2 water buffalo) and 4 herds (2 of each species) considered to be brucellosis-free were selected. A minimum of 100 animals, or all animals > 1 year of age, were tested from each herd. Serum samples were evaluated for Brucella-specific antibodies by use of standard plate agglutination test (SPAT), card test (CT), buffered plate agglutination test (BPAT), and standard tube agglutination test (STAT). A Bayesian approach was used to estimate sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests without the use of a gold standard, assuming conditional independence of tests.

Results—Sensitivity and specificity estimates in cattle, respectively, were SPAT, 66.7 and 98.9; CT, 72.7 and 99.6; BPAT, 88.1 and 98.1; and STAT, 80.2 and 99.3. Corresponding test estimates in water buffalo, respectively, were SPAT, 51.4 and 99.3; CT, 90.4 and 99.4; BPAT, 96.3 and 90.7; and STAT, 75.0 and 98.8. Sensitivity of the CT and specificity of the BPAT were different between cattle and water buffalo with at least 95% probability.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Brucellosis serologic test performance varied by species tested, but BPAT had the highest sensitivity for screening cattle and water buffalo. Sensitivity and specificity of more than 2 screening tests can be estimated simultaneously without a gold standard by use of Bayesian techniques. (Am J Vet Res 2002;63:1598–1605)

Abstract

Objective—To estimate receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves for a competitive ELISA (c-ELISA) that is used in serodiagnosis of brucellosis in water buffalo and cattle, to determine the most appropriate positive cutoff value for the c-ELISA in confirmation of infection, and to evaluate species differences in c-ELISA function.

Sample population—Sera from 4 herds of cattle (n = 391) and 4 herds of water buffalo (381).

Procedure—Serum samples were evaluated for Brucella-specific antibodies by use of a c-ELISA. On the basis of previous serologic test results, iterative simulation modeling was used to classify animals as positive or negative for Brucella infection without the use of a gold standard. Accuracy of c-ELISA for diagnosis of infection was compared between cattle and water buffalo by comparison of areas under ROC curves.

Results—A positive cutoff value of 30% inhibition for c-ELISA yielded sensitivity and specificity estimates, respectively, of 83.9 and 92.6% for cattle and 91.4 and 95.4% for water buffalo. A positive cutoff value of 35% inhibition yielded sensitivity and specificity estimates, respectively, of 83.9 and 96.2% for cattle and 88.0 and 97.4% for water buffalo. Areas under ROC curves were 0.94 and 0.98 for cattle and water buffalo, respectively.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance—ROC curves can be estimated by use of iterative simulation methods to determine optimal cutoff values for diagnostic tests with quantitative outcomes. A cutoff value of 35% inhibition for the c-ELISA was found to be most appropriate for confirmation of Brucella infection in cattle and water buffalo. (Am J Vet Res 2003;64:57–64)