Animal
Health and Welfare Strategy indicators:
core indicator 5.4
Zoonotic disease in livestock
Indicators are available in downloadable Adobe Acrobat 
format on request - For queries or information on this indicator contact Defra’s animal health and welfare statistics on +44 (0) 1904 456582 or email ahw.stats@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
| Vision: Consumers value the confidence they have in food produced safely from healthy animals that are well cared for. Consumers and retailers accept that higher standards of animal health and welfare are not cost free. |
- Animal Health and Welfare Strategy – indicator fact sheet
- Animal Health and Welfare Strategy – indicator data sheet
Core indicator 5.4: Zoonotic disease in livestock – indicator fact sheet
| Indicator | The level of zoonotic diseases found in livestock and in humans. |
| Data | The number of incidents of salmonella in livestock The number of salmonella isolations in humans The number of cases of vCJD. |
| Geographic coverage | Salmonella in Livestock – GB Salmonella in Humans – England and Wales Cases of vCJD – UK. |
| Years | Chart 5.4(i): 2001-2006 Table 5.4(i): 2001-2006 Chart 5.4(ii): 1995-2006 |
| Source | ‘Salmonella in Livestock Production’ – report by Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) Human Salmonella – Health Protection Agency (HPA) vCJD – ‘The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit’ - University of Edinburgh |
| Origin of data | All laboratories finding salmonella in samples from livestock, their environment and in animal feed are required to report the results to a government official under the Zoonoses Order 1989. Human data - cases of salmonella confirmed by the HPA Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens from isolates referred by clinical diagnostic laboratories in England and Wales. |
| Updates | This indicator will be updated biannually and was last updated in June 2007. The next update will be December 2007. |
| Background | Isolations of salmonella from livestock may result from investigations of disease; statutory surveillance under the government programme to control Salmonella in breeding flocks of domestic fowl; voluntary surveillance (mainly poultry and pigs) carried out by the industry; or as incidental findings. Varying number of animals within a herd or flock may be sampled during investigations and surveillance activity, and samples from a number of animals may be pooled for examination. The animal data for salmonella refer to animal/group/herd/flock incidents rather than total isolates, where an incident comprises the first isolation and all subsequent isolations of the same serovar and phage/definitive type combination of a particular type of salmonella from an animal, group of animals or their environment on a single premise within a time period based on the knowledge and experience of the farm situation, usually 30 days. |
| Statistical & methodological information | It is not possible to acquire information on the total number of tests that are conducted and therefore it is not possible to determine an incidence rate. Data should be treated with some caution, as an increase in the level of disease may be as a result of an increased number of tests, rather than an underlying increase in incidence. |
| Further information | Additional information can be found at the following addresses: Livestock Salmonella: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/vla/science/science-salm-intro.htm Human Salmonella: http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/salmonella/menu.htm vCJD: http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/figures.htm |
Core indicator 5.4: Zoonotic disease in livestock – indicator data sheet
Chart 5.4(i) shows the trends of salmonella incident reports in animals and birds in GB in the period 2001-2006.
It is important to note that the trend in the number of reported incidents may not reflect the actual level of infection in a particular animal species and can be influenced by factors which affect the number of samples submitted for examination; this is particularly true for 2001 data. For this reason it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the trends through the period charted.
There has been a significant revision to 2005 data – this was due to improvements to the way in which the VLA database calculates incidents that have allowed more efficient grouping of isolations into their correct incidents (rather than recording them as incidents in their own right.)
Table 5.4(i) shows the number of cases of salmonella isolated in humans in England and Wales:
| Table 5.4(i): human salmonella | ||
| Year |
Total human salmonella
isolates |
Per 100,000 of population
(E&W) |
| 2001 | 16,042 |
30.6 |
| 2002 | 14,444 |
27.5 |
| 2003 | 14,963 |
28.3 |
| 2004 | 13,125 |
24.7 |
| 2005 | 11,447 |
21.4 |
| 2006 | 12,375 |
22.1 |
- The number of isolates per 100,000 of the population in England and Wales had fallen by 27.9% between 2001 and 2006.
- The number of isolates per 100,000 of the population increased by 0.7 between 2005 and 2006.
Chart 5.4(ii) shows the annual and cumulative number of mortalities from vCJD in the UK between 1995 and 2006.
Chart 5.4(ii) shows:
- The number of mortalities from vCJD peaked in 2000, and has subsequently followed a general downward trend.
- The cumulative number of mortalities from vCJD between 1995 and 2006 stands at 158.
- In 2006, there were 5 mortalities from vCJD; this is consistent with 2005 figures.
Page last
modified:
12 October, 2007
Page published: 24 November, 2006