Factors Affecting Herd Status for Bovine Tuberculosis in Dairy Cattle in Northern Thailand

• Main Authors: Tawatchai Singhla, Sukolrat Boonyayatra, Veerasak Punyapornwithaya, Kimberly L. VanderWaal, Julio Alvarez, Srinand Sreevatsan, Somphorn Phornwisetsirikun, Jamnong Sankwan, Mongkol Srijun, Scott J. Wells
• Format: Journal
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85019561387&origin=inward; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/47324
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

© 2017 Tawatchai Singhla et al. The objective of this case-control study was to identify farm-level risk factors associated with bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in dairy cows in northern Thailand. Spatial analysis was performed to identify geographical clustering of case-farms located in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces in northern Thailand. To identify management factors affecting bTB status, a matched case-control study was conducted with 20 case-farms and 38 control-farms. Case-farms were dairy farms with at least single intradermal tuberculin test- (SIT-) reactor(s) in the farms during 2011 to 2015. Control-farms were dairy farms with no SIT-reactors in the same period and located within 5 km from case-farms. Questionnaires were administered for data collection with questions based on epidemiological plausibility and characteristics of the local livestock industry. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regressions. A significant geographic cluster was identified only in Chiang Mai province (p < 0.05). The risk factor associated with presence of SIT-reactors in dairy herds located in this region was purchasing dairy cows from dealers (OR = 5.85, 95% CI = 1.66-20.58, and p=0.006). From this study, it was concluded that geographic clustering was identified for dairy farms with SIT-reactors in these provinces, and the cattle movements through cattle dealers increased the risks for SIT-reactor farm status.