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 |
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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 |
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