Airborne infection and livestock disease control: a meteorological appreciation

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences Vol. 302; no. 1111; pp. 543 - 557
• Main Author: Smith, C.V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London The Royal Society 24-08-1983
• Subjects: Aerosols; Air; Animal diseases; animal health; Animals; Houses; Infections; Meteorology; Residential buildings; Respiratory diseases; Ventilation systems
• ISSN: 0080-4622; 2054-0280
• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1983.0074

The range of collaborative activities between meteorologist and veterinarian seen as necessary to ensure appropriate advice in epizootics is discussed briefly. Non-specific advice relevant to commercial and advisory practice is examined under two headings, the nature and scale of the disease challenge and the success of that challenge. The first of these areas of interest explores host-microparasite contact as measured by the time integral of ambient aerosol concentration and air sampling rate. This leads to comment on herd size and the siting of animal units, both locally and regionally. The success of the disease challenge is seen to require examination of the impact of environmental factors on immune function. The importance of the thermal environment in this respect is emphasized, but the view is noted that advances in understanding and technology for control of the thermal environment in animal housing may have done little to advance biological performance. An extension of house design ventilation criteria is suggested so that air hygiene and air contaminant load may be considered. The new ventilation requirements are measured against existing design requirement in examples.