Comparison of depopulation and S19-RB51 vaccination strategies for control of bovine brucellosis in high prevalence areas.
RB51 vaccination can minimise the diagnostic problems associated with S19 vaccination of adult cattle, but its use for bovine brucellosis (BB) control remains controversial. Here, the evolution of BB prevalence in five high prevalence areas in Spain subjected to different control measures is described: herd depopulation of infected herds (I-III) or mass vaccination with RB51 and S19-RB51 vaccination of replacement heifers (IV-V). Annual data from the eradication campaigns were analysed at the special incidence area (SIA) level and the time to obtain herd prevalence levels of <1 per cent ('controlled status') was obtained at the local veterinary unit (LVU) level and compared using Cox's proportional hazard model. A higher annual rate of decrease in herd prevalence was observed in the SIAs subjected to vaccination (46.9%, 95% CI 43.5% to 50.0%) compared with those managed using stamping out (14.9%, 95% CI 9.6% to 19.9%). No significant differences in the time to achieve controlled status were observed between the stamping-out and vaccination strategies used at the LVU level, with median times of 60 (stamping-out LVUs) and 63 (vaccination LVUs) months. These results suggest that RB51 mass vaccination, in combination with the S19-RB51 vaccination of replacement heifers and strict implementation of other eradication measures, may provide results at least comparable with those resulting from a herd depopulation based strategy.
Subdirección General de Sanidad e Higiene Animal y Trazabilidad, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Madrid 28071, Spain.
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Saez
Servicio de Sanidad Animal, Consejería de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, Junta de Extremadura, Mérida 06800, Spain.
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Sanz
Laboratorio Central de Sanidad Animal, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Santa Fe, Granada 18320, Spain.
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Durán
Servicio de Sanidad Animal, Consejería de Agricultura, Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha, Toledo 45071, Spain.
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García
Servicio de Sanidad y Bienestar Animal, Gobierno de Cantabria, Santander 39011, Spain.
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Fernandez
Servicio de Sanidad Animal, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid 47071, Spain.
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Minguez
Subdirección General de Sanidad e Higiene Animal y Trazabilidad, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Madrid 28071, Spain.
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Carbajo
Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance (CADMS), School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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Mardones
Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
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Perez
Centro VISAVET, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
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Gonzalez
Centro VISAVET, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain Facultad de Veterinaria, Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
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Dominguez
Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA Centro VISAVET, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain Servicio de Microbiología, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Madrid 28034, Spain.
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Alvarez
D000818:Animals; D002004:Brucella Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002007:Brucellosis, Bovine / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002417:Cattle; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D032541:Mass Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*; D011155:Population Control; D015995:Prevalence; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
D002004:Brucella Vaccine