GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS AND ANIMAL DISEASE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0188611
• Project Start Date: Jul 1, 2000
• Project End Date: Jun 30, 2005
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
(N/A)
LINCOLN,NE 68583

Performing Department
VETERINARY BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE

Non Technical Summary
Animal disease negatively affects the animal industry, both in Nebraska and globally, through producer losses, animal welfare concerns and food safety. Disease in wild species can pose hazards to humans, livestock and pets, as well as negatively impact important natural resources. Characterizing patterns of animal disease, using real world data, provides a powerful means to uncover risk factors for health problems and to develop interventions. The purpose of this study is to expand risk factor analysis to include the study of geospatial patterns of animal health.

Animal Health Component

70%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

70%

Developmental

30%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
711	3310	1170	30%
135	0860	1170	25%
901	7310	1170	15%
722	0840	1170	10%
901	7210	1170	10%
311	3310	1170	10%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife; 311 - Animal Diseases; 711 - Ensure Food Products Free of Harmful Chemicals, Including Residues from Agricultural and Other Sources; 901 - Program and Project Design, and Statistics; 722 - Zoonotic Diseases and Parasites Affecting Humans;

Subject Of Investigation
0840 - Fur-bearing animals; 3310 - Beef cattle, live animal; 7310 - Experimental design and statistical methods; 0860 - Endangered species; 7210 - Remote sensing equipment and technology;

Field Of Science
1170 - Epidemiology;

Keywords

animal health

spatial analysis

zoonoses

epidemiology

veterinary medicine

geographic information systems

animal diseases

beef cattle

remote sensing

data collection

regional research

wildlife

pets

disease transmission

suburban areas

escherichia coli

wildlife habitats

emerging diseases

amphibia

endangered species

field studies

animal welfare

food safety

risk assessment

intervention

wildlife livestock relations

Goals / Objectives
Combine Geographic Information System technology with field data collection and spatial analytical techniques to address animal health problems which impact Nebraska and the global community. Specifically, to characterize 1) hazards for zoonotic and wildlife-pet disease transmission in suburban environments; 2) spatial associations among E. coli O157:H7 isolates between species and within habitats; 3) emerging disease problems, such as bovine pediculosis in the High Plains region; 4) global declines of amphibians, especially associated with transmissible disease agents; and 5) associations between remotely-sensed, nutritional characteristics of grazing land and animal health in cow-calf operations.

Project Methods
Field data, including animal and environmental samples, will be collected. Samples will be tested in cooperating laboratories. Locational information will be entered into ArcViewr/ArcInfor. Remotely sensed data and other spatially referenced data layers will be overlayed. Maps will be generated to summarize spatial relationships. Multivariate, categorical analyses, traditionally used in epidemiology, will be performed. Join count, second order, codistribution, and spatial autocorrelative analyses will be used to test geospatial patterns. Conclusions will be reported in refereed journals and to constituent groups.

Progress 07/01/00 to 06/30/05

Outputs
Spatial databases were assembled, linking point locations of urban wildlife captures with land use, human population data, soil types, vegetation, water, and serosurvey results for zoonotic agents. Differences in recapture rates and risk factors for seroprevalence were evaluated between geographic areas. An educational brochure was prepared on potential public health hazards from urban wildlife. Additional samples were collected to allow refined spatiotemporal analyses. A geographic information system was used to derive spatial relationships between cattle operations diagnosed as positive for pediculosis and for bovine leukosis virus to be included in logistic regression and spatial autocorrelative analyses. Samples were collected, cultured and stored for molecular analysis of E. coli isolates from cattle and the environment. Spatial layers and data on amphibian populations and disease agents were also assembled. Case and control definitions were developed and coded for each site in the database to allow a retrospective analysis of amphibian declines.

Impacts
This project has developed and implemented methods for using new technology to study spatial patterns of disease among animals. Understanding of these patterns has led to recommendations for changes in how humans and pets interact with urban wildlife and to development of regional guidelines for disease control in cattle.

Publications

• S. Gehrt, L. Hungerford, S. Hatten. 2001. Effects of immobilization agents on post-release behavior and population estimates of raccoons. Wildl. Soc. Bull., in press.
• D. R. Smith, M. Blackford, S. Younts, R. Moxley, J. Gray, L. Hungerford, T. Milton, T. Klopfenstein. 2001. Ecological relationship between the prevalence of cattle shedding Escherichia coli O157H7 and characteristics of the cattle or conditions of the feedlot pen. Journal of Food Protection, in press.
• C. Carey, H. Heyer, J. Wilkinson, R. Alford, J. Arntzen, T. Halliday, L. Hungerford, K. Lips, E. Middleton, S. Orchard, A. Rand. 2001. Amphibian declines and environmental change Use of remote sensing techniques to identify environmental correlates. Conservation Biology, in press.
• D. Renter, J. Sargeant, L. Hungerford, S. Hyngstrom. 2000. The distribution of E. coli O157 in agricultural range environments preliminary results. IXth Symposium of the International Society on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.
• C. Farello, L. Hungerford, S.Gehrt, B. Hannon. 2000. Prediction of rabies spread and evaluation of control strategies among urban Illinois raccoons. IXth Symposium of the International Society on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.
• L. L. Hungerford, S. D. Gehrt, C. Anchor, L. A. Magnarelli, J. P. Dubey. 2000. Prevalence of zoonotic infections in suburban Illinois raccoons [Procyon lotor]. IXth Symposium of the International Society on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.
• L. Hungerford, S. Gehrt, S. Hatten. 2001. Effect of chemical restraint method on recapture rate in raccoons. Proc. Conf. Res. Workers in Animal Dis.