title: Analysis of factors associated with hesitation to restart farming after depopulation of animals due to 2010 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in Japan.
abstract: An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, in 2010. This epidemic was controlled with culling and vaccination, and resulted in the death of nearly 290,000 animals. This paper describes the factors associated with hesitation to restart farming after the epidemic. A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the mental health of farmers one year after the end of the FMD epidemic in affected areas, and univariate and multivariable analyses were performed. Of 773 farms which had answered the question about restart farming, 55.4% (428/773) had resumed or were planning to resume operation. The farms hesitated restarting were characterized by small scale (P=0.06) and having multiple sources of income (P<0.01). Personal attributes associated with hesitation to restart were advanced age of the owner (P<0.01), with someone with bad physical conditions (P=0.04) and small family size (P<0.01). Factors related to disease control during the epidemic that were associated with hesitation to restart were vaccination of animals (P<0.01), not assisting with culling on other farms (P<0.01), and higher satisfaction with information provided by the government (P=0.02). We found that farmers hesitated to resume farming because they had a limited labor force, had an alternative business or were mentally distressed during disease control.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Epidemiology Unit, Division of Health and Environment Sciences, Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 582 Bunkyodai Midorimachi, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hazumu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kadowaki
authors.forename: Taishi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kayano
authors.forename: Takaharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tobinaga
authors.forename: Atsuro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watari
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makita
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D000067565:Farmers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005536:Foot-and-Mouth Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires