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Movement of cattle in GB
The existence of a unified database recording the birth, death and location of all cattle in GB provides a unique opportunity to study the complex demographics and trading patterns of cattle, and to use this information to investigate the distribution of zoonotic and other diseases.
Relatively little thought had been given to the nature of livestock trade prior to the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak in the UK. At this time the effect of the movement of animals, often over long distances and occurring frequently in short periods, became clearly evident in the early, widespread distribution of the disease.
We have been working with the cattle movement database since 2003. This work aims to:
- understand better the patterns of movement in GB,
- explore how these patterns are changing over time,
- investigate the impact of specific events (eg changes in legislation) on cattle movement patterns (i.e. on farmers’ decisions about trading animals)
In addition, we have been “filling in the gaps” by studying, at a local level, the myriad of other types of contact that occur between farms and which may facilitate transmission of pathogens over a smaller scale.
Related publications
Brennan, M.L., Kemp, R and Christley, R.M. (2008) Direct and indirect contacts between cattle farms. Prev Vet Med., 84: 242-260
Robinson, S.E. and Christley, R.M. (2007) Exploring the role of auction markets in cattle movements within Great Britain. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 81:21-37
Robinson, S.E. Everett, M. and Christley, R.M. (2007) Recent network evolution increases the potential for large epidemics in the British Cattle population. J R Soc Interface, 4:669-674
Robinson, S.E. and Christley, R.M. (2006) Identifying temporal variation in reported births, deaths and movements of cattle in Great Britain. BMC Veterinary Research 2, 11
