Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds

Control of paratuberculosis is challenging due to the relatively poor performance of diagnostic tests, a prolonged incubation period, and protracted environmental survival. Prioritization of herd-level interventions is not possible because putative risk factors are often not supported by risk factor...

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Main Authors: McAloon, Conor G., Doherty, Michael, Whyte, Paul, More, Simon J., O'Grady, Luke, Citer, Lorna, Green, Martin J.
Format: Article
Published: American Dairy Science Association. Published by the Federation of Animal Science Societies and Elsevier 2017
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46989/
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author McAloon, Conor G.
Doherty, Michael
Whyte, Paul
More, Simon J.
O'Grady, Luke
Citer, Lorna
Green, Martin J.
author_facet McAloon, Conor G.
Doherty, Michael
Whyte, Paul
More, Simon J.
O'Grady, Luke
Citer, Lorna
Green, Martin J.
author_sort McAloon, Conor G.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Control of paratuberculosis is challenging due to the relatively poor performance of diagnostic tests, a prolonged incubation period, and protracted environmental survival. Prioritization of herd-level interventions is not possible because putative risk factors are often not supported by risk factor studies. The objective for this study was to investigate the relative importance of risk factors for an increased probability of herd paratuberculosis infection. Risk assessment data, comprehensive animal purchase history, and diagnostic test data were available for 936 Irish dairy herds. Both logistic regression and a Bayesian β regression on the outcome of a latent class analysis were conducted. Population attributable fractions and proportional reduction in variance explained were calculated for each variable in the logistic and Bayesian models, respectively. Routine use of the calving area for sick or lame cows was found to be a significant explanatory covariate in both models. Purchasing behavior for the previous 10 yr was not found to be significant. For the logistic model, length of time calves spend in the calving pen (25%) and routine use of the calving pen for sick or lame animals (14%) had the highest attributable fractions. For the Bayesian model, the overall R2 was 16%. Dry cow cleanliness (7%) and routine use of the calving area for sick or lame cows (6%) and had the highest proportional reduction in variance explained. These findings provide support for several management practices commonly recommended as part of paratuberculosis control programs; however, a large proportion of the observed variation in probability of infection remained unexplained, suggesting other important risks factors may exist.
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spelling nottingham-469892020-05-04T19:05:09Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46989/ Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds McAloon, Conor G. Doherty, Michael Whyte, Paul More, Simon J. O'Grady, Luke Citer, Lorna Green, Martin J. Control of paratuberculosis is challenging due to the relatively poor performance of diagnostic tests, a prolonged incubation period, and protracted environmental survival. Prioritization of herd-level interventions is not possible because putative risk factors are often not supported by risk factor studies. The objective for this study was to investigate the relative importance of risk factors for an increased probability of herd paratuberculosis infection. Risk assessment data, comprehensive animal purchase history, and diagnostic test data were available for 936 Irish dairy herds. Both logistic regression and a Bayesian β regression on the outcome of a latent class analysis were conducted. Population attributable fractions and proportional reduction in variance explained were calculated for each variable in the logistic and Bayesian models, respectively. Routine use of the calving area for sick or lame cows was found to be a significant explanatory covariate in both models. Purchasing behavior for the previous 10 yr was not found to be significant. For the logistic model, length of time calves spend in the calving pen (25%) and routine use of the calving pen for sick or lame animals (14%) had the highest attributable fractions. For the Bayesian model, the overall R2 was 16%. Dry cow cleanliness (7%) and routine use of the calving area for sick or lame cows (6%) and had the highest proportional reduction in variance explained. These findings provide support for several management practices commonly recommended as part of paratuberculosis control programs; however, a large proportion of the observed variation in probability of infection remained unexplained, suggesting other important risks factors may exist. American Dairy Science Association. Published by the Federation of Animal Science Societies and Elsevier 2017-09-06 Article PeerReviewed McAloon, Conor G., Doherty, Michael, Whyte, Paul, More, Simon J., O'Grady, Luke, Citer, Lorna and Green, Martin J. (2017) Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds. Journal of Dairy Science . ISSN 1525-3198 (In Press) Paratuberculosis Johne’s disease Risk factor http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030217308305?via%3Dihub doi:10.3168/jds.2017-12985 doi:10.3168/jds.2017-12985
spellingShingle Paratuberculosis
Johne’s disease
Risk factor
McAloon, Conor G.
Doherty, Michael
Whyte, Paul
More, Simon J.
O'Grady, Luke
Citer, Lorna
Green, Martin J.
Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds
title Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds
title_full Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds
title_fullStr Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds
title_full_unstemmed Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds
title_short Relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in Irish dairy herds
title_sort relative importance of herd-level risk factors for probability of infection with paratuberculosis in irish dairy herds
topic Paratuberculosis
Johne’s disease
Risk factor
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46989/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46989/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46989/