A CASE-CONTROL STUDY ON BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS IN THE VENETO REGION (ITALY)

A case-control study was undertaken to provide information about the r ole of some husbandry practices and farm characteristics in the epidem ioloqy of bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region. Twenty-seven breed ing herds where a positive result to the single intradermal cervical t uberculin test was confirmed by post-mortem examination were compared with seventy-four herds which had been free of the disease for at leas t three years. Epidemiological information was collected on farms. The factors taken into account in the study were chosen on the basis of t heir epidemiological plausibility and of the local livestock character istics. Multiple logistic regression was applied to analyse the data. Factors identified as possibly involved in increasing the risk of bovi ne tuberculosis in the Veneto Region were the presence of mixed (dairy and beef) enterprises (OR = 4.9, P = 0.001) and of cattle purchase (O R = 5.8; P = 0.003). Other factors (such as herd size, housing system, summer mountain pasture, possible contact with wild animals, and indi rect contacts with other herds) did not appear to significantly contri bute to tuberculosis presence in this area. The results of this case-c ontrol study support the hypothesis that in the Veneto Region bovine t uberculosis infection is still associated with classical risk factors both (directly or indirectly) related to cattle movements. (C) 1998 El sevier Science B.V.