STERIN ACCREDITATION FOR INSPECTIONS BY T HE HEALTH-SERVICE - A NEW BRANCH OF THE HEALTH-SERVICE TREE

A study on contacts between livestock holdings was conducted in a geog raphically defined ar ea of 4 by 6 km in the Netherlands. The farmers were asked to record all contact on and off farm during a period of 2 weeks. The number of contacts in the 2 week period was high, on averag e 91.8 contacts per farm. The risk of spreading foot-and-mouth disease on or off the farm was greater for cattle farms than for swine farms. Relatively more people had contact with the animals while visiting ca ttle farms, thereby causing the higher risk. Most contacts occurred ov er short distances. Almost 50% of the contacts were within the researc h area. This finding confirms the importance of restricted areas aroun d farms with foot-and-mouth disease infections.