Veterinarians’ Perception of Livestock Infectious Disease: Results from a Five Country Cross-European Survey

Background Livestock production accounts for nearly half of all agricultural output globally, but the long-term sustainability of the sector is threatened by a range of infectious diseases. Endemic diseases lead to a wide range of production losses and animal welfare issues, while transboundary and epidemic diseases can lead to widespread deaths, the implementation of stringent control measures, and a disruption of trade. Zoonotic diseases further threaten human health. It is therefore critical that livestock diseases are effectively controlled. When implementing disease control strategies and biosecurity measures, it is important to understand stakeholders’ views, particularly regarding which diseases should be prioritised. Methods The current study aims to develop our understanding of veterinarians’ views regarding infectious diseases in livestock across Belgium, Ireland, Hungary, Romania, and Sweden through an online survey. The survey examines veterinarians’ perception of the risk posed by infectious livestock diseases based on a three-part score comprising of: the perceived likelihood of an outbreak occurring; the impact of an outbreak; and the ease of controlling an outbreak. Veterinarians’ awareness of given diseases was also assessed. Results We report a high degree of variation in the perception of risk for livestock diseases across both the livestock production sectors examined, and countries. The transboundary diseases African swine fever, foot and mouth disease and avian influenza were seen as posing a high risk overall, however, bluetongue, lumpy skin disease, peste des petits ruminants, and sheep and goat pox showed a highly regional variation. Endemic diseases were often seen as posing a higher risk than transboundary diseases in many countries. We further identified several awareness gaps, particularly related to zoonotic diseases such as Hepatitis E, Campylobacter and Salmonella Dublin. Conclusions Perception of risk for both transboundary and endemic diseases show a high degree of variation at the national level, often reflecting differences in the importance of production sectors by country. Critical awareness gaps for both transboundary, and zoonotic, diseases require further investigation.