Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland
Bovine tuberculosis remains a challenging endemic pathogen of cattle in many parts of the globe. Spatial clustering of <i>Mycoacterium bovis</i> molecular types in cattle suggests that local factors are the primary drivers of spread. Northern Ireland’s agricultural landscape is comprised...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Pathogens |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/3/299 |
| _version_ | 1797443845168824320 |
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| author | Georgina Milne Jordon Graham John McGrath Raymond Kirke Wilma McMaster Andrew William Byrne |
| author_facet | Georgina Milne Jordon Graham John McGrath Raymond Kirke Wilma McMaster Andrew William Byrne |
| author_sort | Georgina Milne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bovine tuberculosis remains a challenging endemic pathogen of cattle in many parts of the globe. Spatial clustering of <i>Mycoacterium bovis</i> molecular types in cattle suggests that local factors are the primary drivers of spread. Northern Ireland’s agricultural landscape is comprised of highly fragmented farms, distributed across spatially discontinuous land parcels, and these highly fragmented farms are thought to facilitate localised spread. We conducted a matched case control study to quantify the risks of bovine tuberculosis breakdown with farm area, farm fragmentation, fragment dispersal, and contact with neighbouring herds. Whilst our results show small but significant increases in breakdown risk associated with each factor, these relationships were strongly confounded with the number of contiguous neighbours with bovine tuberculosis. Our key finding was that every infected neighbour led to an increase in the odds of breakdown by 40% to 50%, and that highly fragmented farms were almost twice as likely to have a bTB positive neighbour compared to nonfragmented farms. Our results suggest that after controlling for herd size, herd type, spatial and temporal factors, farm fragmentation increasingly exposes herds to infection originating from first-order spatial neighbours. Given Northern Ireland’s particularly fragmented landscape, and reliance on short-term leases, our data support the hypothesis that between-herd contiguous spread is a particularly important component of the region’s bovine tuberculosis disease system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:02:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8edd59eb94b6448abb6b4b39699f8c1c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0817 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:02:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pathogens |
| spelling | doaj.art-8edd59eb94b6448abb6b4b39699f8c1c2023-11-30T21:52:06ZengMDPI AGPathogens2076-08172022-02-0111329910.3390/pathogens11030299Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern IrelandGeorgina Milne0Jordon Graham1John McGrath2Raymond Kirke3Wilma McMaster4Andrew William Byrne5Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Belfast BT4 3SD, UKAgri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Belfast BT4 3SD, UKDepartment of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Area Based Scheme), Londonderry BT48 6AT, UKDepartment of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Veterinary Service Animal Health), Limavady BT49 9HP, UKDepartment of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Land Parcel Identification System), Ballymena BT43 6HY, UKOne-Health Unit, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, D02 WK12 Dublin, IrelandBovine tuberculosis remains a challenging endemic pathogen of cattle in many parts of the globe. Spatial clustering of <i>Mycoacterium bovis</i> molecular types in cattle suggests that local factors are the primary drivers of spread. Northern Ireland’s agricultural landscape is comprised of highly fragmented farms, distributed across spatially discontinuous land parcels, and these highly fragmented farms are thought to facilitate localised spread. We conducted a matched case control study to quantify the risks of bovine tuberculosis breakdown with farm area, farm fragmentation, fragment dispersal, and contact with neighbouring herds. Whilst our results show small but significant increases in breakdown risk associated with each factor, these relationships were strongly confounded with the number of contiguous neighbours with bovine tuberculosis. Our key finding was that every infected neighbour led to an increase in the odds of breakdown by 40% to 50%, and that highly fragmented farms were almost twice as likely to have a bTB positive neighbour compared to nonfragmented farms. Our results suggest that after controlling for herd size, herd type, spatial and temporal factors, farm fragmentation increasingly exposes herds to infection originating from first-order spatial neighbours. Given Northern Ireland’s particularly fragmented landscape, and reliance on short-term leases, our data support the hypothesis that between-herd contiguous spread is a particularly important component of the region’s bovine tuberculosis disease system.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/3/299farm fragmentationbTBbovine tuberculosisNorthern Irelandlocal spreadneighbourhood |
| spellingShingle | Georgina Milne Jordon Graham John McGrath Raymond Kirke Wilma McMaster Andrew William Byrne Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland Pathogens farm fragmentation bTB bovine tuberculosis Northern Ireland local spread neighbourhood |
| title | Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland |
| title_full | Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland |
| title_fullStr | Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland |
| title_short | Investigating Farm Fragmentation as a Risk Factor for Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle Herds: A Matched Case-Control Study from Northern Ireland |
| title_sort | investigating farm fragmentation as a risk factor for bovine tuberculosis in cattle herds a matched case control study from northern ireland |
| topic | farm fragmentation bTB bovine tuberculosis Northern Ireland local spread neighbourhood |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/3/299 |
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