Analysis of cattle movements in Argentina, 2005

We describe the movement of cattle throughout Argentina in 2005. Details of farm-to-farm and farm-to-slaughter movements of cattle were obtained from the Sanitary Management System database (Sistema de Gestión Sanitaria, SGS), maintained by the National Service for Agrifood Health and Quality (SENASA). Movements were described at the regional and district level in terms of frequency, the number of stock transported, the district of origin and destination and Euclidean distance traveled. Social network analysis was used to characterize the connections made between regions and districts as a result of cattle movement transactions, and to show how these characteristics might influence disease spread. Throughout 2005 a total of 1.3 million movement events involving 32 million head of cattle (equivalent to approximately 57% of the national herd) were recorded in the SGS database. The greatest number of farm-to-farm movements occurred from April to June whereas numbers of farm-to-slaughter movement events were relatively constant throughout the year. Throughout 2005 there was a 1.1–1.6-fold increase in the number of farm-to-farm movements of cattle during April–June, compared with other times of the year. District in-degree and out-degree scores varied by season, with higher maximum scores during the autumn and winter compared with summer and spring. Districts with high in-degree scores were concentrated in the Finishing region of the country whereas districts with high out-degree scores were concentrated not only in the Finishing region but also in Mesopotamia, eastern Border and southern Central regions. Although movements of cattle from the Border region tended not to be mediated via markets, the small number of districts in this area with relatively high out-degree scores is a cause for concern as they have the potential to distribute infectious disease widely, in the event of an incursion.