Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years
Paratuberculosis (PTB) is a severe, slow-developing, untreatable disease of ruminants. Worldwide, the disease affects more than 50% of herds in the dairy industry, and causes substantial economic losses for dairy producers. Diagnostic tests show limited sensitivity, especially in the early stages of...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/151 |
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| author | Barbara Vass-Bognár Johannes Lorenz Khol Walter Baumgartner Kinga Fornyos Melitta Papp Zsolt Abonyi-Tóth Mikolt Bakony Viktor Jurkovich |
| author_facet | Barbara Vass-Bognár Johannes Lorenz Khol Walter Baumgartner Kinga Fornyos Melitta Papp Zsolt Abonyi-Tóth Mikolt Bakony Viktor Jurkovich |
| author_sort | Barbara Vass-Bognár |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Paratuberculosis (PTB) is a severe, slow-developing, untreatable disease of ruminants. Worldwide, the disease affects more than 50% of herds in the dairy industry, and causes substantial economic losses for dairy producers. Diagnostic tests show limited sensitivity, especially in the early stages of the disease. Our study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of <i>Mycobacterium avium</i> ssp. <i>paratuberculosis</i> (MAP) in large-scale dairy herds in Hungary, in association with the self-reported presence or absence of screening and intervention measures against MAP transmission. We processed data from 42 large-scale Holstein Friesian farms in Hungary between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2021. An average of 32,009 (min.: 31,702; max.: 32,207) animals were blood sampled yearly (127,372 in total during the four years), corresponding to 15% of the Hungarian dairy cattle population. All female cattle older than 2 years were blood sampled on the farms enroled in the study. The samples were tested using a commercial ELISA (IDEXX paratuberculosis screening Ab test). Farm managers were interviewed about their on-farm diagnostic and intervention approaches using a uniform questionnaire, including questions on the level of awareness, frequency of ELISA and PCR testing, and their strategies for culling adult animals and reducing transmission to newborn calves. By comparing the annual rate of change in seroprevalence and the amount of change observed during the four-year period, we concluded that test-and-cull strategies implemented in parallel with newborn calf management that aimed at preventing MAP transmission were superior to test-and-cull strategies alone; moreover, fortifying culling decision making via additional ELISA and PCR tests is superior to using a single ELISA result. For farms that carried out a complex program with both “test-and-cull” and proper newborn calf management, there was a proportional reduction in apparent seroprevalence at an average of 22.8% per year. Fifteen of the sampled farms had no measures in place to control paratuberculosis. On these farms, the seroprevalence increased by 12.1% per year on average. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:12:19Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:12:19Z |
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| spelling | doaj.art-575f043f40eb477286e6e4356a893d172024-01-10T14:50:29ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152024-01-0114115110.3390/ani14010151Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four YearsBarbara Vass-Bognár0Johannes Lorenz Khol1Walter Baumgartner2Kinga Fornyos3Melitta Papp4Zsolt Abonyi-Tóth5Mikolt Bakony6Viktor Jurkovich7Department of Animal Hygiene, Herd Health and Mobile Clinic, University of Veterinary Medicine, H-1078 Budapest, HungaryUniversity Clinic for Ruminants, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, AustriaUniversity Clinic for Ruminants, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, AustriaEurofins Vetcontrol Ltd., H-1211 Budapest, HungaryEurofins Vetcontrol Ltd., H-1211 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Biostatistics, University of Veterinary Medicine, H-1078 Budapest, HungaryCentre for Translational Medicine, Semmelweis University, H-1085 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Animal Hygiene, Herd Health and Mobile Clinic, University of Veterinary Medicine, H-1078 Budapest, HungaryParatuberculosis (PTB) is a severe, slow-developing, untreatable disease of ruminants. Worldwide, the disease affects more than 50% of herds in the dairy industry, and causes substantial economic losses for dairy producers. Diagnostic tests show limited sensitivity, especially in the early stages of the disease. Our study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of <i>Mycobacterium avium</i> ssp. <i>paratuberculosis</i> (MAP) in large-scale dairy herds in Hungary, in association with the self-reported presence or absence of screening and intervention measures against MAP transmission. We processed data from 42 large-scale Holstein Friesian farms in Hungary between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2021. An average of 32,009 (min.: 31,702; max.: 32,207) animals were blood sampled yearly (127,372 in total during the four years), corresponding to 15% of the Hungarian dairy cattle population. All female cattle older than 2 years were blood sampled on the farms enroled in the study. The samples were tested using a commercial ELISA (IDEXX paratuberculosis screening Ab test). Farm managers were interviewed about their on-farm diagnostic and intervention approaches using a uniform questionnaire, including questions on the level of awareness, frequency of ELISA and PCR testing, and their strategies for culling adult animals and reducing transmission to newborn calves. By comparing the annual rate of change in seroprevalence and the amount of change observed during the four-year period, we concluded that test-and-cull strategies implemented in parallel with newborn calf management that aimed at preventing MAP transmission were superior to test-and-cull strategies alone; moreover, fortifying culling decision making via additional ELISA and PCR tests is superior to using a single ELISA result. For farms that carried out a complex program with both “test-and-cull” and proper newborn calf management, there was a proportional reduction in apparent seroprevalence at an average of 22.8% per year. Fifteen of the sampled farms had no measures in place to control paratuberculosis. On these farms, the seroprevalence increased by 12.1% per year on average.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/151paratuberculosisseroprevalencedairy cattletest-and-cullbiosecurity |
| spellingShingle | Barbara Vass-Bognár Johannes Lorenz Khol Walter Baumgartner Kinga Fornyos Melitta Papp Zsolt Abonyi-Tóth Mikolt Bakony Viktor Jurkovich Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years Animals paratuberculosis seroprevalence dairy cattle test-and-cull biosecurity |
| title | Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years |
| title_full | Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years |
| title_short | Investigating the Prevalence of Paratuberculosis in Hungarian Large-Scale Dairy Herds and the Success of Control Measures over Four Years |
| title_sort | investigating the prevalence of paratuberculosis in hungarian large scale dairy herds and the success of control measures over four years |
| topic | paratuberculosis seroprevalence dairy cattle test-and-cull biosecurity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/151 |
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