Transmission of bovine herpesvirus 1 within and between herds on an island with a BHV1 control programme.

Transmission of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV1) within and between herds was studied on the island of Ameland, The Netherlands. There were 50 herds with 3300 head of cattle on the island. Herds were divided into three groups: (1) only containing seronegative cattle, (2) containing seronegative cattle and vaccinated seropositive cattle, and (3) containing only vaccinated cattle. All 23 herds in groups 1 and 2 were monitored. Three major outbreaks of BHV1 infections were observed due to the introduction of infectious cattle. Another major outbreak was most likely induced by reactivation of latent BHV1 in seropositive cattle. The basic reproduction ratio within these herds was estimated at least 4. Only one of these outbreaks led to three secondary outbreaks in susceptible herds in which all cattle were seronegative. These outbreaks were most likely due to respectively, direct animal contact, human transmission, and aerogenic transmission. The basic reproduction ratio between herds in this study was estimated to be 0.6.