Modelling the impact of livestock disease on production: case studies of non-notifiable diseases of farm animals in Great Britain

The objective of this work was to establish economic values (EVs) of mastitis and lameness in order to enhance the current UK dairy profi t index (£PLI) by including these health traits. The EVs of traits currently in £PLI were also re-evaluated to account for changes in costs/returns over time and to determine their sensitivity to changes in some of the basic assumptions used in their derivation. Predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs) for mastitis are not available in the UK. Instead, PTAs for somatic cell count (SCC), which has a strong genetic correlation with clinical mastitis, were used to predict clinical mastitis. Similarly, PTAs for locomotion and (for bulls with no locomotion PTA) the 'legs and feet' composite were used to predict lameness. The EV of mastitis was estimated at £0·83 per percent incidence, giving an index weight for SCC PTA of £0·20. The EV of lameness was estimated at £0·99 per percent incidence, giving an index weight for locomotion PTA of £1·28. The associated index weight for the 'legs and feet' composite was estimated to be £1·50. Economic values for all traits (production, lifespan, mastitis and lameness) were found to be sensitive to their associated price assumption but not to price assumptions of other traits in the index or to other production parameters in the model. Better information is needed on the infl uence of cow age (parity) on incidence of disease and on the probability of involuntary culling to determine the appropriate balance between the EVs for longevity and health. Currently, 16% of the weight in £PLI is attributable to non-production traits. In our revised index this weight increased to 23%. Even so, selection using this index is still predicted to result in an increase in mastitis and lameness, albeit at a very low rate. This situation may be changed by the introduction of fertility into £PLI and through better information about health traits. Incorporation of consumer preference into £PLI may require traits associated with health and welfare of the cow to receive more weight than their EV would suggest in order to maintain or improve health traits in national selection programmes.

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“…Costs of mastitis and lameness have been published by Bennett et al (1999) and made available on the World Wide Web at http : //www. rdg.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…uk/livestockdisea/. The detailed treatment costs used by Bennett et al (1999) and required here are based on the same partial budgets set out by Kossaibati and Esslemont (1995). Few of the assumptions used have changed substantially since this study and were therefore not up-dated with the exception of the value of discarded milk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Including lameness and mastitis in a profit index for dairy cattle

Stott¹,

Coffey

Brotherstone

2005

Anim. Sci.

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“…In this section we will first describe the method of cost calculation as developed by Bennett et al (1999b), followed by a short description of relevant cost factors for the diseases considered and the application of the model to the target diseases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The system of Bennett et al (1999b) is based on actual probabilities of an animal contracting a disease and associated costs of prevention, treatment and reduced performance. The costs per animal are then multiplied by the number of animals at risk.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costs of the major endemic diseases of sheep in Great Britain and the potential benefits of reduction in disease impact

2005

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The costs of three major endemic sheep diseases in Great Britain, gastro-intestinal (GI) parasites, footrot and scab, were estimated and compared with costs for other diseases from another study. Disease costs include lost performance, preventive measures and treatment of affected animals. The most costly disease, of those studied, for the British sheep industry is infestation with GI parasites, with estimated annual costs of £84 million. Annual costs for the other two diseases are £24 million for footrot and £8 million for sheep scab. This compares with literature estimates of £20 million for Chlamydial abortions and £12 million for toxoplasmosis. For sheep scab most costs are for preventive measures, therefore, short of eradication, a reduction in incidence will have a limited effect on costs. For GI parasites, costs are linearly related to the severity of the infestation and a reduction of the disease will have a proportional effect on the costs to the industry. For footrot about half the costs are for preventive measures, the other half is for lost production and treatment. A reduction in the incidence of footrot has a proportional effect on the £10 million associated with loss of production and treatment of infected animals. It is concluded that gastro-intestinal parasites and footrot are two sheep diseases inBritain for which a reduction of severity or incidence will have a large impact on costs of production.

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“…Segundo BENNETT et al (1999), há uma associação negativa entre vacas não vacinadas infectadas pelo vírus e produtividade desses animais, ou seja, a produção de leite nesses rebanhos pode sofrer queda de até 30%.…”

Section: O Presente Estudo Teve Como Objetivo Determinar a Frequênciaunclassified

Frequência de anticorpos e fatores de risco para a infecção pelo vírus da diarreia viral bovina em fêmeas bovinas leiteiras não vacinadas na região Amazônica Maranhense, Brasil

et al. 2010

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Modelling the impact of livestock disease on production: case studies of non-notifiable diseases of farm animals in Great Britain

Cited by 27 publications

References 23 publications

Including lameness and mastitis in a profit index for dairy cattle

Including lameness and mastitis in a profit index for dairy cattle

Costs of the major endemic diseases of sheep in Great Britain and the potential benefits of reduction in disease impact

Frequência de anticorpos e fatores de risco para a infecção pelo vírus da diarreia viral bovina em fêmeas bovinas leiteiras não vacinadas na região Amazônica Maranhense, Brasil

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