Pesticides, Insects and Birds on Conventional and Organic Cattle Farms in the Netherlands: Implications for Regulation of Organic Production

Cryptosporidium is comprised an apicomplexan parasitic protist, which infects a wide range of hosts, causing cryptosporidiosis. In cattle farms, the incidence of cryptosporidiosis results in high mortality in calves leading to considerable economic loss in the livestock industry. Infected animals may also act as a major reservoir of Cryptosporidium spp., in particular C. parvum, the most common cause of cryptosporidiosis in calves. This poses a significant risk to other farms via breeding centres, to trading of livestock and to human health. This study, funded by the Interreg-2-seas programme, is a part of a global project aimed at strategies to tackle cryptosporidiosis. To reach this target, it was essential to determine whether prevalence was dependent on the studied countries or if the issue was borderless. Indeed, C. parvum occurrence was assessed across dairy farms in certain regions of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. At the same time, the animal-to-animal transmission of the circulating C. parvum subtypes was studied. To accomplish this, 1084 faecal samples, corresponding to 57 dairy-farms from all three countries, were analysed. Well-established protocols amplifying the 18S rDNA and gp60 genes fragments, followed by DNA sequencing, were used for the detection and subtyping C. parvum; the DNA sequences obtained were further characterised using a combination of bioinformatics and phylogenetics methods. Our results show 25.7%, 24.9% and 20.8% prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in Belgium, France and the Netherlands respectively. Overall, 93% of the farms were Cryptosporidium positive. The gp60 subtyping demonstrated a significant number of the C. parvum positives belonged to the IIa allelic family, which has been also detected in humans. Consequently, this study highlights how widespread is C. parvum in dairy farms and endorses cattle as a major carrier of zoonotic C. parvum subtypes, which subsequently pose a significant threat to human health.

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Within-farm transmission characteristics of bluetongue virus serotype 8 in cattle and sheep in the Netherlands, 2007-2008

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0246565 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. e0246565

Author(s):

Thomas J. Hagenaars ◽

Anoek Backx ◽

Eugene M. A. van Rooij ◽

Roger M. M. I. Vrouenraets ◽

Daniel M. Bontje ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Bluetongue Virus ◽

Reproduction Number ◽

Transmission Characteristics ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Virus Serotype ◽

Cattle Herds ◽

Cattle Farms ◽

Insight Into ◽

Cattle And Sheep

In 2006 and 2007, sheep and cattle farms in the Netherlands were affected by an epidemic of bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8). In order to obtain insight into the within-farm spread of the virus, five affected cattle and five affected sheep farms were longitudinally monitored between early 2007 and mid or late 2008. The farms were visited between four and seven times to collect blood samples. During each visit, all animals present in the flock or herd were sampled. The samples were analysed for the presence of BTV-8 antibodies (ELISA) and BTV-8 antigen (rRT-PCR). The observed patterns of RT-PCR positives indicate a rapid within-farm virus spread during the vector season. During vector-free periods we observed a complete rRT-PCR positivity decline within a few months. During the vector season a lower bound estimate of the basic reproduction number (R0) ranges from 2.9–6.9 in the cattle herds (one herd not analysed), and from 1.3–3.2 in the sheep flocks in this study.

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Management practices and use of anthelmintics on dairy cattle farms in The Netherlands: results of a questionnaire survey

Veterinary Parasitology ◽

10.1016/s0304-4017(98)00120-4 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

pp. 23-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Fred H.M Borgsteede ◽

Jan Sol ◽

André van Uum ◽

Nanda de Haan ◽

Ria Huyben ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Dairy Cattle ◽

Questionnaire Survey ◽

Management Practices ◽

Cattle Farms

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Cross-Border Investigations on the Prevalence and Transmission Dynamics of Cryptosporidium Species in Dairy Cattle Farms in Western Mainland Europe

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9112394 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 2394

Author(s):

Pedro Pinto ◽

Cláudia A. Ribeiro ◽

Sumaiya Hoque ◽

Ourida Hammouma ◽

Hélène Leruste ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Human Health ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Economic Loss ◽

Cryptosporidium Spp ◽

Faecal Samples ◽

Wide Range ◽

Parasitic Protist ◽

Cattle Farms

Cryptosporidium is an apicomplexan parasitic protist, which infects a wide range of hosts, causing cryptosporidiosis disease. In farms, the incidence of this disease is high in animals such as cows, leading to extensive economic loss in the livestock industry. Infected cows may also act as a major reservoir of Cryptosporidium spp., in particular C. parvum, the most common cause of cryptosporidiosis in these animals. This poses a risk to the trading of livestock, to other farms via breeding centres, and to human health. This study is a part of a global project aimed at strategies to tackle cryptosporidiosis. To reach this target, it was essential to determine whether prevalence was dependent on the studied countries or if the issue was borderless. Indeed, C. parvum occurrence was assessed across dairy farms in certain regions of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. At the same time, the animal-to-animal transmission of the circulating C. parvum subtypes was studied. To accomplish this, we analysed 1084 faecal samples, corresponding to 57 dairy farms from all three countries. To this end, 18S rRNA and gp60 genes fragments were amplified, followed by DNA sequencing, which was subsequently used for detection and subtyping C. parvum. Bioinformatic and phylogenetic methods were integrated to analyse and characterise the obtained DNA sequences. Our results show 25.7%, 24.9% and 20.8% prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands respectively. Overall, 93% of the farms were Cryptosporidium positive. The gp60 subtyping demonstrated a significant number of the C. parvum positives belonged to the IIa allelic family, which has been also identified in humans. Therefore, this study highlights how prevalent C. parvum is in dairy farms and further suggests cattle as a possible carrier of zoonotic C. parvum subtypes, which could pose a threat to human health.

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