Epidemiology of leptospirosis in dairy farm workers in the Manawatu. Part II. A case-control study of high and low risk farms

Subsequent to a cross-sectional serological survey of Manawatu dairy farm workers, a case-control study was carried out to investigate the correlation between titres to leptospiral serovars in workers and those in cattle in their herds. A total of 52 herds was investigated, 25 of which were high risk where milkers had titres of 1:96 or greater, and 27 were case-controls where milkers had no detectable agglutinin titres at a minimum serum dilution of 1:24. The serological prevalence of titres to hardjo in cattle on high risk farms (76.5%) was significantly higher (P<0.05) than on the case-control farms (60.0%). The geometric mean titres of seropositive cattle on high risk farms were also significantly higher (P<0.01) than in the cattle from the case-control farms, especially in the younger cohorts. These findings suggest that there was active endemic hardjo infection in the two- to three-year-old cattle on the high risk farms. Titres to pomona were demonstrated in only 5.2% of the cattle from both types of farm. Workers with titres to pomona tended to be from farms on which stock, especially calves, were bought-in and pigs were kept. Conventional measures for protecting milkers from contact with infected urine appeared to be ineffective and it is concluded that prevention of leptospirosis in dairy farm workers can only be achieved by elimination of infection in the herd by vaccination of cattle.     

Chemical control of Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on dwarf snap beans

Two sprays of vinclozolin (0.5 kg a.i. ha^–1) or procymidone (0.5 kg a.i. ha^–1), the first at the beginning of flowering and the second two weeks later, gave the best control ofBotrytis cinerea on dwarf snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Good results were also obtained with iprodione and with thiophanate-methyl. Vinclozolin and procymidone at the same program were the most active fungicides againstSclerotinia sclerotiorum. Treatments with the latter two fungicides resulted in increased yields of pods and had no influence on colour and quality of the pods. Residue levels were below the tolerances.Samenvatting Twee bespuitingen met vinchlozolin (0,5 kg a.i. ha^–1) of procymidon (0,5 kg a.i. ha^–1), de eerste in het stadium begin bloei en de tweede 14 dagen later tijdens de peulzetting, waren voldoende omB. cinerea in stamslabonen te bestrijden. Tevens werden goede resultaten verkregen met iprodion en thiofanaat-methyl. Vinchlozolin en procymidon gaven volgens hetzelfde schema toegepast ook de beste werking tegenS. sclerotiorum. Toepassingen van deze laatste twee fungiciden leverden een hogere peulopbrengst en hadden geen invloed op de kleur en de kwaliteit van de peulen. Het residugehalte in de peulen lag beneden de toelaatbare grens.This research was subsidized by the Instituut tot Aanmoediging van het Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek in Nijverheid en Landbouw (IWONL).