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an epidemiological study of listeriosis in dairy cattle

an epidemiological study of listeriosis in dairy cattle

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<strong>in</strong> Brita<strong>in</strong>. In this part <strong>of</strong> the <strong>study</strong> the frequency <strong>of</strong> <strong>listeriosis</strong> <strong>an</strong>d its cl<strong>in</strong>ical presentation <strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>dairy</strong> <strong>cattle</strong> <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>an</strong>d are presented.<br />

2. 2. Materials <strong>an</strong>d Methods<br />

2. 2. 1. Study Population<br />

A r<strong>an</strong>dom sample <strong>of</strong> 1500 <strong>dairy</strong> <strong>cattle</strong> farmers <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>an</strong>d was selected. The sample<br />

size was calculated from <strong>an</strong> expected prevalence <strong>of</strong> 50% with 95% level <strong>of</strong> confidence, a<br />

desired accuracy <strong>of</strong> 3% <strong>an</strong>d predicted response rate <strong>of</strong> 70% (C<strong>an</strong>on <strong>an</strong>d Roe 1982). This<br />

sample represented 5.8% <strong>of</strong> the total <strong>dairy</strong> <strong>cattle</strong> hold<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>an</strong>d (MAFF 1994).<br />

2. 2. 2. Study Design<br />

This was a cross sectional <strong>study</strong> <strong>in</strong> which a postal questionnaire was used to collect<br />

data on the frequency <strong>of</strong> <strong>listeriosis</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>dairy</strong> <strong>cattle</strong> <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>an</strong>d between July 1994 <strong>an</strong>d June<br />

1995.<br />

2. 2. 3. The Questionnaire (Appendix 1)<br />

A self adm<strong>in</strong>istered, eight-page, postal questionnaire was designed to collect data<br />

about <strong>listeriosis</strong> from <strong>dairy</strong> farmers <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>an</strong>d. The questionnaire consisted <strong>of</strong> 7 parts.<br />

Parts one <strong>an</strong>d two were designed to obta<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation on the prevalence <strong>an</strong>d <strong>in</strong>cidence <strong>of</strong><br />

Listeriosis, part three was designed to estimate herd size, replacement rate <strong>an</strong>d number <strong>of</strong><br />

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