Epidemiological characteristics of bovine brucellosis in Korea, 2000~2004

Nam, Hyang Mi; Yoon, Hachung; Kim, Cheol-Hee; More, Simon J.; Kim, Seok-Jae; Lee, Byeong-Yong; Park, Choi-Kyu; Jeon, Jong-Min; Wee, Sung-Hwan

doi:2012.52.1.19

Korean J Vet Res > Volume 52(1); 2012 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Veterinary Research 2012;52(1):19-24.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14405/kjvr.2012.52.1.019 Published online March 31, 2012.

Epidemiological characteristics of bovine brucellosis in Korea, 2000~2004

Hyang Mi Nam¹, Hachung Yoon¹, Cheol-Hee Kim², Simon J. More³, Seok-Jae Kim¹, Byeong-Yong Lee¹, Choi-Kyu Park¹, Jong-Min Jeon¹, Sung-Hwan Wee¹

¹Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency
²Food Safety and Sanitation Division, Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
³Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis, Veterinary Sciences Centre, School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College

Abstract

This paper describes the epidemiological characteristics of bovine brucellosis in Korea during January 2000~September 2004, which encompasses the period when the incidence of bovine brucellosis increased abruptly. Data from the National Animal Infectious Disease Data Management System were used for this study. A range of epidemiological measures was calculated including annual herd and animal incidence. During the study period, there were 1,183 outbreaks on 638 farms. In beef cattle, annual herd incidence increased from 0.2 (2000) to 11.5 (2004, to September) outbreaks per 10,000 and annual animal incidence varied between 3.4 (2000) and 105.8 (2004, to September) per 100,000, respectively. On 401 (62.9%) infected farms during this period, infection was eradicated without recurrence. Recurrence of infection was significantly higher on farms where abortion was reported (53.3%), compared to farms where it was not (30.0%). On beef cattle farms, infection was introduced most frequently through purchased cattle (46.2%). Based on the results of this study, the establishment and spread of brucellosis in the Korean beef cattle population were mainly due to incomplete or inappropriate treatment of aborted materials and the movement of infected cattle.

Key Words: bovine brucellosis, epidemiology, incidence, Korea