Climatic factors associated with the infection of herds of cattle with bluetongue viruses

✍ Scribed by M. P. Ward

• Book ID: 104742684
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 724 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0165-7380
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00366925

✦ Synopsis

The incidence of bluetongue virus infection of 15 cattle herds in Queensland, Australia, was determined by a serum neutralization test. The maximum temperature (degree C), minimum temperature (degree C) and rainfall (mm) data were obtained from the meteorological recording stations closest to each herd. Using unweighted least-squares regression analysis, the best statistical model explaining the most variability in the herd incidence rate included the ratio between the maximum and minimum temperature recorded at both 1 month and 6 months preceding seroconversion, and rainfall recorded at both 2 months and 6 months preceding seroconversion. More than 90% of the variability in the incidence of bluetongue virus infection in the herds was explained by the model, a considerable improvement on previous models that used prevalence data. The prospective nature of the study also supports a strong causal relationship between climatic factors and the occurrence of infection in cattle herds.