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Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2018.

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Other Authors: Michel, Anita Luise
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2018
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Michel, Anita Luise
author_browse Michel, Anita Luise
author_facet Michel, Anita Luise
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:58.654Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/68013 Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England Michel, Anita Luise kgerbervet@gmail.com Pfeiffer, Dirk U. Gerber, Karen Unrestricted UCTD Cattle -- Diseases Bovine tuberculosis Mycobacterium bovis Cattle -- Tuberculin testing Veterinary science theses SDG-01 SDG-01: No poverty Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2018. The number of cattle herds in the UK newly infected with bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) has doubled every nine years since 1979. Controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) currently costs the British taxpayer an estimated £100 million each year and the disease has been named ‘the most pressing animal health problem in the UK’. Routine intradermal tuberculin testing of cattle for bTB has mostly been carried out by private veterinarians trained as official veterinarians; however in July 2014 the English government announced its intention to tender for the supply of taxpayer-funded tuberculin testing. England was divided into five geographical lots and the new delivery partners were to commence their services by May 2015. Such a significant change resulted in mixed reactions from the veterinary community. There were concerns about whether providing these services would remain viable for veterinarians and what the subsequent impact would be on disease control as well as the critical relationship between veterinarians and farmers. Measures to control disease are unlikely to be successful if they are not practical or if the people expected to implement them have not been involved in their development. Social science can be used to measure attitudes and provide information on the acceptability and cost-effectiveness of disease control measures, as well as be a tool for monitoring effectiveness and identifying areas for their improvement. This research aimed to measure the attitudes to the changes of veterinarians and farmers in England using a questionnaire sent to veterinarians. The responses to the questions were compared among various demographic groups. The results showed consistent differences between the experiences of veterinarians working as delivery partners compared to those working as subcontractors, with significant differences in 15 of the 17 questions, and between veterinarians who work in larger practices (>15 veterinarians) compared to those in smaller practices (≤15 veterinarians) with significant differences for 16 of the questions. Subcontractors and respondents from smaller practices indicated that the changes had a negative impact on them and their clients emotionally and negatively affected their and their clients’ attitudes towards the government. No positive or negative financial impact was reported. The delivery partners and respondents from larger practices showed a positive attitude towards the government and the financial impact of the changes for both them and their clients; they also indicated a positive impact on them and their clients emotionally. All four of these groups affirmed the importance of a trusting relationship between veterinarian and farmer. Five of the questions showed significant differences in responses between some of the age groups and five of the questions showed significant differences between the risk zones for bTB, although no clear pattern emerged. There were no significant differences in the responses according to gender; those in mixed compared to exclusively large animal practice; UK graduates compared to European graduates or those practising in the South West of England, where bTB is the most prevalent, compared to the rest of the country. The differences observed between the groups were noted particularly in how the changes affected veterinarians emotionally and financially as well as how veterinarians perceived the effects on farmers emotionally. Veterinary Tropical Diseases MSc Unrestricted 2018-12-05T08:06:28Z 2018-12-05T08:06:28Z 2009/05/18 2018 Dissertation Gerber, K 2018, Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England, MSc Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/68013> S2018 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/68013 en © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Unrestricted
UCTD
Cattle -- Diseases
Bovine tuberculosis
Mycobacterium bovis
Cattle -- Tuberculin testing
Veterinary science theses SDG-01
SDG-01: No poverty
Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England
title Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England
title_full Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England
title_fullStr Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England
title_short Attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in England
title_sort attitudes of veterinarians to the changes in provision of bovine tuberculosis testing in england
topic Unrestricted
UCTD
Cattle -- Diseases
Bovine tuberculosis
Mycobacterium bovis
Cattle -- Tuberculin testing
Veterinary science theses SDG-01
SDG-01: No poverty
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/68013