Management factors affecting the risk for vesicular stomatitis in livestock operations in the western United States

H. Scott Hurd From the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, USDA, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Fort Collins, CO 80521 (Hurd); USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, 755 Parfet St, Ste 136, Lakewood, CO 80215 (McCluskey); and the Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 (Mumford).

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 DVM, PhD
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Brian J. McCluskey From the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, USDA, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Fort Collins, CO 80521 (Hurd); USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, 755 Parfet St, Ste 136, Lakewood, CO 80215 (McCluskey); and the Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 (Mumford).

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Elizabeth L. Mumford From the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, USDA, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Fort Collins, CO 80521 (Hurd); USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, 755 Parfet St, Ste 136, Lakewood, CO 80215 (McCluskey); and the Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 (Mumford).

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Objective

To identify management factors affecting the risk of animals developing vesicular stomatitis (VS).

Design

Case-control study.

Animals

Horses, cattle, and sheep with suspected vesicular stomatitis on 395 premises in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.

Procedure

Data were collected during the VS outbreak of 1997. Diagnosticians interviewed livestock owners and completed a supplemental questionnaire. Cases were defined as those premises that had a completed questionnaire and had ≥ 1 animal positive for VS. Control premises were all premises investigated that had a completed questionnaire and on which the animals had been tested but VS was not detected.

Results

Animals that had access to a shelter or barn had a reduced risk of developing VS (OR, 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35 to 0.99). This effect was more pronounced for equine premises (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3 to 0.9). Conversely, during an adjusted analysis on equine premises, risk of developing disease was increased slightly where animals had access to pasture (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.7). On all premises where owners reported insect populations were greater than normal, odds of developing disease were significantly increased (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.47 to 4.47). Premises with animals housed < 0.25 miles from running water were more than twice as likely to have clinical signs of VS (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.32 to 5.0).

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance

These results support reports of others that suggest biting insects are a vector in VS virus transmission. Management practices to reduce exposure to biting insects might reduce the risk of VS. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 1999;215:1263–1268)

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Cover Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Issue:
01 Nov 1999
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