Field observations on the epidemiology of bovine herpes mammillitis
Gibbs, E.P.; Johnson, R.H.; Osborne, A.D.
Veterinary Record 91(17): 395-401
1972
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 4343654 Document Number: 56003
An epidemiological study is reported of 17 confirmed outbreaks of bovine herpes mammillitis (BHM) in the UK. It was found that BHM had a seasonal incidence between late June and late Nov. In 3 herds BHM was confirmed, by the isolation of virus, in heifers due to calve. Pseudocowpox was confirmed as a dual virus infection in 9 of the 11 milking herds examined. However, the pattern by which BHM spread in the milking herds could be related neither to the incidence of pseudocowpox in the herd nor to the order in which the cows were milked. An examination of meteorological data suggested firstly that BHM occurred more frequently in those years conducive to the build up of large populations of potential insect vectors and secondly that the direction in which BHM spread to herds within a locality was possibly related to the predominant wind direction.