Building Quantitative Indicators for the Evaluating the Sanitary Condition of Cattle Herds

Aiming at developing a tool for assessing the magnitude of farm animal health, producing a quantitative indicator for evaluating the sanitary condition of cattle herds. To illustrate the construction of the indicator, serum samples were taken from 160 cattle from 16 properties in the island of S?o Luiz, state of Maranh?o, Brazil, where four diseases were evaluated along with their impact percentages: infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine viral diarrhea, bovine brucellosis and enzootic bovine leukosis – all of an infectious and transmissible nature and the cause of considerable economic losses. Disease frequencies were estimated and respective percentage impacts per herd were established The mathematical rationale underlying the building of the indicator ranks properties on a 0 - 100% scale in terms of disease positivity in the herd, with the lowest indicator value indicating the highest cumulative disease frequency (0% = all animals tested positive for the four diseases, 100% = all animals tested negative for all diseases). The “sanitary condition” of the herds ranged from 35% to 77.50%. Determination of the “sanitary condition” will directly impact the production chain and consumers, who will be able to ascertain animal health at the beginning of the production chain.