title: Seroprevalence of and agroecological risk factors for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and neospora caninum infection among adult beef cattle in cow-calf herds in Alberta, Canada.
abstract: A province-wide cross-sectional seroprevalence and agroecological risk factor study of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) and Neospora caninum (NC) infection among cattle in 100 cow-calf herds in Alberta was conducted. The seroprevalence of MAP in adult cattle was 1.5% across all herds. Using a widely accepted herd test cutpoint of 2 or more seropositive cows out of 30 animals tested, 7.9% of herds were estimated to be infected (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.3-23.4%). Seroprevalence of MAP differed by agroecological region; specifically, cattle and herds in areas with high soil pH (> 7.0), southern latitudes, and arid climates had a moderately reduced risk of infection (P < 0.10). Seroprevalence of NC infection was 9.7% among adult beef cattle province-wide--these levels also varied by agroecological region--with 91.0% of herds infected overall.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Mail Stop 4458, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4458, USA. hmscott@cvm.tamu.edu
authors.forename: H Morgan
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sorensen
authors.forename: John T Y
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Eva Y W
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Manninen
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis / Q000276:immunology; D018688:Neospora / Q000276:immunology; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan