Effectiveness of the Leptospira Hardjo Control Programme and Detection of New Infections in Dairy Cattle in The Netherlands

Since 2005, a mandatory L. Hardjo control programme (LHCP) has been in place for Dutch dairy herds. Almost 100 percent of dairy farms participate and have an L. Hardjo-free status. In 2020 and 2021, the number of outbreaks seemed to increase as compared to the previous years. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the national LHCP in the Netherlands during 2017–2021. Cases of new infections in herds with an L. Hardjo-free status in the LHCP were described, including the role of risk factors for the introduction. Both the percentage of dairy herds with an L. Hardjo-free status that p... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Katrien M. J. A. van den Brink
Marian Aalberts
Nannet D. Fabri
Inge M. G. A. Santman-Berends
Dokumenttyp: Text
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Verlag/Hrsg.: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Schlagwörter: leptospirosis / Leptospira serovar hardjo / control programme / purchase / risk factor / disease control / surveillance / dairy / serology / import
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27589800
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050831

Since 2005, a mandatory L. Hardjo control programme (LHCP) has been in place for Dutch dairy herds. Almost 100 percent of dairy farms participate and have an L. Hardjo-free status. In 2020 and 2021, the number of outbreaks seemed to increase as compared to the previous years. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the national LHCP in the Netherlands during 2017–2021. Cases of new infections in herds with an L. Hardjo-free status in the LHCP were described, including the role of risk factors for the introduction. Both the percentage of dairy herds with an L. Hardjo-free status that purchased cattle from herds without a free status and the number of purchased cattle increased over the years. A between-herd cluster evaluation showed that between 2017 and 2021, a suspected infection was detected 144 times in 120 dairy herds. In 26 cases (26 herds, 0.2%) new infections were identified, including within-herd transmission. No infection clusters were identified, indicating that infections never led to local transmission between dairy herds. The introduction of cattle from non-free herds appeared to be the cause of all L. hardjo infections in herds participating in the LHCP. Therefore, the national LHCP seems to be highly effective in the control of infections in dairy herds.