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Bulletin No. 22 - Summer 2005
VirologyClassical Swine Fever
ENGEL B, BOUMA A, STEGEMAN A, BUIST W, ELBERS A, KOGUT J, DOPFER D, DE JONG MC
When can a veterinarian be expected to detect classical swine fever virus among breeding sows in a herd during an outbreak ?
Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2005, Volume 67, N°2-3, 195-212
The control of classical swine fever (CSF) in Europe relies on a stamping-out strategy, the outcome of which directly depends on the early detection of affected herds. After virus introduction, as the time goes by, CSF prevalence increases within the affected herd and so does the probability that the affected herd is considered positive in the clinical examination (herd sensitivity or Hse). Other parameters may influence the detection of CSF by a veterinarian such as the characteristics of the herd (type, size), the kind of visit (suspicion or routine) and the veterinarian himself (specialization, experience). This study was based on the data of the CSF outbreak of 1997-1998 in the Netherlands. The time of introduction of the virus had to be estimated using the serological data available for each sow herd included in this study. The results show that at 37 days after virus introduction the probability to detect an affected herd is 0.5 while at 47 days it reaches 0.9 confirming that the virus has plenty of time to spread. Specialization of veterinarians was found to have a significant influence on the detection of CSF which underlines the need for specific training for the recognition of CSF signs. Herd size was shown not to have significant influence.
