219 – Patterns of between-farm contacts via professionals in Sweden (Research paper – Olofsson – 2014)

219 Research paper – Olofsson – 2014 – Patterns of between-farm contacts via professionals in Sweden

In Significant Impact Groups: Biosecurity \External biosecurity
Species targeted: Dairy;
Age: Adult;
Summary:
The objective of the study was to examine the travel patterns of professionals visiting Swedish farms (veterinarians, milk tanker drivers, artificial inseminators, maintenance technicians and livestock hauliers). There were twelve participating organisations, and data was provided for one to three individuals/vehicles/veterinary practices per professional category and per geographic region (except for dairy service technicians and livestock hauliers who did not provide data from all regions). Generally, the greatest areas were travelled by milk tankers and livestock hauliers, and the profession travelling over the smallest areas tended to be the veterinarians. The results of this study indicate that in Sweden a highly contagious disease might spread over a large area in the time span of one incubation period, which ought to be kept in mind in case of an outbreak and in outbreak investigations. The difficulties in contacting some professionals visiting farms could be a problem in an outbreak situation.

Where to find the original material: https://actavetscand.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13028-014-0070-2#citeas; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13028-014-0070-2
Country: SE