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Herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus in commercial dairy and beef cattle in eastern, northern and northeastern China

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Abstract

Although the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus and bovine viral diarrhea virus infection in cattle have been reported in some areas in China, most of them were conducted with small number of cattle samples and very limited districts and neglected the assessment of herd management factors associated with herd-level prevalence of these pathogen infections. Thus, from September 2013 to December 2014, a large-scale seroprevalence study was conducted to determine the animal-level and herd-level seroprevalence and identify herd-level risk factors associated with these pathogen infections in 4487 cattle from 134 herds in five provinces (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Hebei) and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. At animal level, the true prevalence of antibodies against T. gondii, N. caninum, C. abortus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) was 10.48, 17.14, 11.92 and 50.10 %, respectively. At herd level, the true prevalence of antibodies against T. gondii, N. caninum, C. abortus and BVDV was 27.16, 29.10, 37.31 and 40.30 %, respectively. Multivariate analysis of these characteristics showed that source of water and presence of felids were significantly associated with T. gondii infection in the studied cattle herds. Source of water was significantly associated with N. caninum infection in the studied cattle herds. While herd size and management system were significantly associated with BVDV infection in the studied cattle herds, this is the first report of herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors of T. gondii, N. caninum, C. abortus and BVDV infection in cattle in China.

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Acknowledgments

Project support was provided by the project development plan of science and technology of Jilin Province (20130206024NY) and Special Fund for Agroscientific Research in the Public Interest project (no. 201003060).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, Jilin Province, 130118, People’s Republic of China

      Wu-Wen Sun, Wei Cong, Xiao-Feng Shan, Chun-Feng Wang & Ai-Dong Qian

    2. Jilin Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Changchun, Jilin Province, 130118, People’s Republic of China

      Qing-Feng Meng

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    1. Wu-Wen Sun
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    2. Qing-Feng Meng
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    3. Wei Cong
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    Correspondence to Wei Cong or Ai-Dong Qian.

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    Wu-Wen Sun and Qing-Feng Meng contributed equally to this work.

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    Sun, WW., Meng, QF., Cong, W. et al. Herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus in commercial dairy and beef cattle in eastern, northern and northeastern China. Parasitol Res 114, 4211–4218 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4655-0

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