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Author: Susan Maroney 555 South Howes Street Phone: 970-490-7974 Three major epidemics of vesicular stomatitis have occurred recently in the southwestern United States. Infection with vesicular stomatitis virus causes lesions to form around the head and hooves, making it difficult for infected animals to feed and results in significant weight losses. This disease can have important economic impacts on both dairy and beef cattle industries in the form of reduced productivity and the prevention of animal exports through international trade restricitons. GIS and spatial analysis methods were applied to individual case sites to establish patterns of clustering and to identify landscape features possibly correlated with disease transmission. Vegetation, terrain, hydrologic, and transportation factors were analyzed. Several spatial features were identified as common to infected animal locations and this information is now being used to predict the possible direction and spread of future outbreaks of this disease. |
