title: Prevalence of bovine herpesvirus-1 in the Belgian cattle population.
abstract: The national bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) seroprevalence (apparent prevalence) in the Belgian cattle population was determined by a serological survey that was conducted from December 1997 to March 1998. In a random sample of herds (N=556), all cattle (N=28478) were tested for the presence of antibodies to glycoprotein B of BHV-1. No differentiation could be made between vaccinated and infected animals, because the exclusive use of marker vaccines was imposed by law only in 1997 by the Belgian Veterinary Authorities. Twenty-one percent of the farmers vaccinated continuously against BHV-1. In the unvaccinated group, the overall herd, individual-animal and median within-herd seroprevalences were estimated to be 67% (95% confidence interval (CI)=62-72), 35.9% (95% CI=35.0-36.8) and 33% (quartiles=14-62), respectively. Assuming a test sensitivity and specificity of 99 and 99.7%, respectively, the true herd, individual-animal and median within-herd prevalence for the unvaccinated group of herds were estimated to be 65, 36 and 34%, respectively. The true herd prevalence for dairy, mixed and beef herds were respectively, 84, 89 and 53%; the true individual-animal prevalence for those types of herds were, respectively, 35, 43 and 31%; whereas, the true median within-herd prevalences were 36, 29 and 38%.
authors.affiliation: Co-ordination Center for Veterinary Diagnostics (CCVD), Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Center (VAR), Ukkel, Belgium. frboe@var.fgov.be
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boelaert
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biront
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Soumare
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dispas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vanopdenbosch
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vermeersch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raskin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dufey
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berkvens
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kerkhofs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002417:Cattle; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007242:Herpesvirus 1, Bovine / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007241:Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011897:Random Allocation; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral