<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec id="j_jvetres-2022-0006_s_005">
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between biosecurity as scored on the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Centre (Centro di Referenza Nazionale per il Benessere Animale – CReNBA) checklist and the prevalence of <italic>Mycobacterium avium</italic> subsp. <italic>paratuberculosis</italic>, <italic>Chlamydophila abortus</italic> and <italic>Neospora caninum</italic> on dairy farms located in Ragusa, Italy.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="j_jvetres-2022-0006_s_006">
<h3>Material and Methods</h3>
<p>The checklist was used to assign an animal welfare score to 31 dairy farms. Twenty-one farms with a moderate score (>33%, &lt;66%) formed group 1, and 10 farms with a high score (>66%) were group 2. Blood samples were collected from all cows on each farm to investigate the titres of antibodies against the relevant pathogens. Two-way analysis of variance was applied to assess differences between the two experimental groups and the Mann–Whitney test was applied to evaluate prevalence differences in the tested parasites between the groups.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="j_jvetres-2022-0006_s_007">
<h3>Results</h3>
<p>All tested farms had a score that classified them as either good or excellent. A higher incidence of <italic>Neospora caninum</italic> was observed in group 1. The incidences of the other two parasites were no different between the two groups.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="j_jvetres-2022-0006_s_008">
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>The CReNBA checklist represents an impartial, reproducible, functional and smart instrument based on risk analysis and assigns a farm a mathematical animal welfare score. Among the parasites tested for, only <italic>Neospora caninum</italic> had prevalence influenced by biosecurity. Our preliminary results highlighted the positive associations between good animal welfare, high levels of biosecurity, and the prevention of the infectious diseases caused by the parasites in our focus, which are common on dairy farms.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Introduction
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between biosecurity as scored on the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Centre (Centro di Referenza Nazionale per il Benessere Animale – CReNBA) checklist and the prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydophila abortus and Neospora caninum on dairy farms located in Ragusa, Italy.


Material and Methods
The checklist was used to assign an animal welfare score to 31 dairy farms. Twenty-one farms with a moderate score (>33%, <66%) formed group 1, and 10 farms with a high score (>66%) were group 2. Blood samples were collected from all cows on each farm to investigate the titres of antibodies against the relevant pathogens. Two-way analysis of variance was applied to assess differences between the two experimental groups and the Mann–Whitney test was applied to evaluate prevalence differences in the tested parasites between the groups.


Results
All tested farms had a score that classified them as either good or excellent. A higher incidence of Neospora caninum was observed in group 1. The incidences of the other two parasites were no different between the two groups.


Conclusion
The CReNBA checklist represents an impartial, reproducible, functional and smart instrument based on risk analysis and assigns a farm a mathematical animal welfare score. Among the parasites tested for, only Neospora caninum had prevalence influenced by biosecurity. Our preliminary results highlighted the positive associations between good animal welfare, high levels of biosecurity, and the prevention of the infectious diseases caused by the parasites in our focus, which are common on dairy farms.

Prevalence of infectious diseases on dairy farms classified on the basis of their biosecurity score

Journal of Veterinary Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between biosecurity as scored on the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Centre (Centro di Referenza Nazionale per il Benessere Animale – CReNBA) checklist and the prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydophila abortus and Neospora caninum on dairy farms located in Ragusa, Italy.


Material and Methods
The checklist was used to assign an animal welfare score to 31 dairy farms. Twenty-one farms with a moderate score (>33%, 66%) were group 2. Blood samples were collected from all cows on each farm to investigate the titres of antibodies against the relevant pathogens. Two-way analysis of variance was applied to assess differences between the two experimental groups and the Mann–Whitney test was applied to evaluate prevalence differences in the tested parasites between the groups.


Results
All tested farms had a score that classified them as either good or excellent. A higher incidence of Neospora caninum was observed in group 1. The incidences of the other two parasites were no different between the two groups.


Conclusion
The CReNBA checklist represents an impartial, reproducible, functional and smart instrument based on risk analysis and assigns a farm a mathematical animal welfare score. Among the parasites tested for, only Neospora caninum had prevalence influenced by biosecurity. Our preliminary results highlighted the positive associations between good animal welfare, high levels of biosecurity, and the prevention of the infectious diseases caused by the parasites in our focus, which are common on dairy farms.

Introduction
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between biosecurity as scored on the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Centre...

	Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis	Chlamydophila abortus	Neospora caninum
Group 1 Biosecurity between 33% and 66%	4.11 ± 5.63 ^a	0.89 ± 1.37 ^a	23.08 ± 12.17 ^a
Group 2 Biosecurity greater than 66%	4.32 ± 4.00 ^a	0.27 ± 0.81 ^a	16.52 ± 28.23 ^b

	Area A	Area B	Area C	Area D	Area E	Overall score
	Farm management and personnel	Facilities and equipment	Animal-based measures	Inspection of microclimatic environmental conditions and alarm systems	Biosecurity	Overall score
Group 1 Biosecurity between 33% and 66%	70.63 ± 10.68 ^a	62.35 ± 13.11 ^a	82.30 ± 7.15 ^a	53.90 ± 8.19 ^a	50.13 8.47 ± ^a	74.91 7.29 ± ^a
Group Biosecurity 2 greater than 66%	76.40 ± 11.47 ^a	71.05 ± 10.64 ^b	85.69 ± 4.86 ^a	58.65 ± 8.76 ^a	71.16 ± ^b 5.59	79.64 ± ^a 5.17

Prevalence of infectious diseases on dairy farms classified on the basis of their biosecurity score

Publicado en línea: 01 mar 2022

Páginas: 103 - 107

Recibido: 09 jul 2021

Aceptado: 31 ene 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2022-0006

Palabras clave
biosecurity, animal welfare, farm animals, dairy cow, infectious diseases

© 2022 L. Perillo et al. published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1

Mean percentages and standard deviations (±SD) of the antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydophila abortus and Neospora caninum recorded in the animals of group 1 and group 2 farms

Mean percentages and standard deviations (±SD) of animal welfare assessment areas A and D, the biosecurity area E, and the overall score in group 1 and group 2

Prevalence of infectious diseases on dairy farms classified on the basis of their biosecurity score

Publicado en línea: 01 mar 2022

Páginas: 103 - 107

Recibido: 09 jul 2021

Aceptado: 31 ene 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2022-0006

Palabras clavebiosecurity, animal welfare, farm animals, dairy cow, infectious diseases

© 2022 L. Perillo et al. published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1

Mean percentages and standard deviations (±SD) of the antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydophila abortus and Neospora caninum recorded in the animals of group 1 and group 2 farms

Mean percentages and standard deviations (±SD) of animal welfare assessment areas A and D, the biosecurity area E, and the overall score in group 1 and group 2

Palabras clave
biosecurity, animal welfare, farm animals, dairy cow, infectious diseases