Factors affecting management changes on farms participating in a Johne’s disease control program

Abstract

Modern Johne's disease programs aim to control Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection through implementation of management practices that reduce the probability of MAP introduction and within-herd transmission on dairy farms. Success of these programs depends on whether weaknesses in management are corrected through implementation of management improvements. The objectives of this study were, therefore, to (1) assess whether scores in risk-assessment (RA) questions predicted suggestions for management changes for the upcoming year; and (2) determine factors as assessed in an RA that motivated producers to make management improvements and assess whether management improvements were influenced by previously received test results. The RA determining on-farm management related to MAP introduction and transmission were conducted annually by herd veterinarians on 370 dairy farms participating in the Alberta Johne's Disease Initiative. A maximum of 3 management changes that the farmer and the veterinarian agreed upon were recorded in a management plan. The MAP infection status of the herds was assessed through culture of 6 environmental samples. Whereas a management change was proposed for only 4% of questions with scores 1 or 2 (low risk), a change was proposed for 19% of questions with scores >2 [high risk; odds ratio (OR)=11.4]. Improvement in RA question scores was more likely between the first and second annual RA than between the second and third RA (OR=1.6). Farms with >3 culture-positive environmental samples collected in the previous year were more likely to improve their management than environmental sample culture-negative farms (OR=1.3). In conclusion, proposed management changes were oriented toward previously identified weaknesses in management practices, suggesting that the RA was properly used to design targeted management suggestions. Furthermore, improvements in management were not randomly distributed among farms participating in the control program. Instead, knowledge of MAP infection status of a herd, suggestions for management improvements, and duration of participation all influenced implementation of management improvements.

Assessing the impact of tailored biosecurity advice on farmer behaviour and pathogen presence in beef herds in England and Wales

“…274 This is likely to relate to the increased level of detailed interaction between all farmers and their 275 veterinarians during the annual risk assessment process, as well as identification of herd status in 276 relation to endemic diseases otherwise not routinely tested for. Behaviour on control farms may have 277 been influenced by this increased knowledge of disease status (Wolf et al, 2015), and of current level 278 of biosecurity and the associated factors, or by provision of general biosecurity advice to control farms, 279 possibly beyond the usual 'baseline' level, for ethical reasons, which meant that the study power to 280 detect differences between intervention and control farms will have been lower than originally 281 estimated using standard approaches. Furthermore, the biosecurity behaviour of control group 282 farmers in this study is unlikely to be representative of the biosecurity behaviour of typical beef 283 farmers in the target population, because of this increased farmer-veterinarian interaction and 284 disease awareness, as well as participation bias relating to the type of farmer willing to enrol and 285 remain in a longitudinal study.…”

Invited review: Determinants of farmers' adoption of management-based strategies for infectious disease prevention and control

“…Ritter et al, 2015;Roche et al, 2015;Toma et al, 2015 • Consider using structured risk assessments and management plans to facilitate discussion about perceived constraints and break the complexities of targeted disease control into parts, which can be managed more easily. Wilson et al, 2015;Wolf et al, 2015 • Promote solid, evidence-based management recommendations, taking the most current knowledge into account, and provide information about the effectiveness of various strategies, customized for each farm. Brightling et al, 2009 • If reports are available, inform farmers on the success of implemented management strategies and comparable prevention and control programs.…”

Clinical communication patterns of veterinary practitioners during dairy herd health and production management farm visits

“…Between October 2015 and January 2017, a list of all dairy veterinarians who had at least 10 dairy cli-ents and practiced within a feasible driving distance (<750 km) from Calgary, Canada, was created based on the authors' familiarity with practicing veterinarians in Alberta and the database of the Alberta Johne's Disease Initiative (Wolf et al, 2015), which included most Alberta dairy practitioners with >10 dairy clients. Then, listed veterinarians were contacted by email and telephone and asked to enroll in the study.…”