Factors associated with the early detection of foot-and-mouth disease during the 2001 epidemic in the United Kingdom |
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| Authors: | Melissa McLaws Carl Ribble Wayne Martin John Wilesmith |
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| Institution: | Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 (McLaws, Martin); Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London, UK SW1P 4PQ (Wilesmith) |
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| Abstract: | An essential objective of an effective foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) eradication campaign is to shorten the infectious period by rapidly detecting and destroying cases of disease. The purpose of our investigation was to identify factors associated with the early detection of clinical FMD during the 2001 outbreak in the United Kingdom. We performed a logistic regression analysis, using early versus late detection of disease as the outcome of interest.During the 2001 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom, infected premises were more likely to be detected early under the following circumstances: 1) cattle (particularly dairy) were infected rather than sheep; 2) a recently confirmed infected premises was within 3 km of the new case; and 3) the case was initially reported by the farmer, rather than a Local Disease Control Centre-initiated surveillance activity (patrol, tracing, pre-emptive cull). Our findings suggest that reporting by farmers and initiatives that increase farmer education and awareness should be encouraged. |
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