Correlation of Environmental Temperature, Precipitation,
and Humidity with Salmonella Culture Results from Cattle
in Virginia
by
Kwankate Kanistanon
Master's Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Tech
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of
Master of Science
in
Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Approved
Dr. Kevin D. Pelzer, Co-Chair
Dr. Lorin D. Warnick, Co-Chair
Dr. Jerry R. Roberson
March, 11, 1997
Blacksburg, Virginia
Records of bovine samples submitted for salmonella cultures at four regional diagnostic
laboratories in the state of Virginia were used to investigate the association of weather
conditions and the diagnosis of salmonellosis in cattle. Spearmanšs correlation
coefficients were calculated for the correlations between the monthly number of samples
positive for salmonella culture and weather parameters: temperature, precipitation, and
relative humidity. Significant correlation coefficients between the monthly average
temperature and the monthly number of positive samples were found to be negative in
one laboratory (rs= -0.38, p=0.03) and positive in one laboratory (rs=0.30, p=0.02). The
latter correlation coefficient was found between the monthly average temperature and the
monthly number of positive samples the following month. The same laboratories that had
significant correlation of the monthly number of positive samples and the monthly
average temperature also had significant correlation with the monthly average relative
humidity (rs= -0.39, p=0.03 and rs=0.37, p=0.004). The monthly average relative humidity
was more highly correlated to the number of positive samples reported in the same month
for both laboratories that had significant correlation coefficients. None of the correlations
between the monthly precipitation and the monthly number of positive samples were
significant (p>0.05). The inconsistent directions of correlation coefficients need to be
investigated further to find a reason for the discrepancy between regions of the state.
List of attached files
| File Name | Size (Bytes) |
| ETD.PDF | 374,651 Bytes |
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Date item approved:
03/11/97
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