Table 3 Cost-benefit analysis by farmers deciding whether to call their veterinarian for an abortion
Factors | Benefits | Costs |
|---|---|---|
Regulations | Professional conscientiousness | No added-value for the farmer as there is no enforcement |
| Â | Avoid sanctions | Â |
| Â | Â | Lack of technical justification: they believed a brucellosis outbreak would be detected by a significant abortion episode or by active surveillance |
Health | Identify cause of abortion | Difficulties in identifying the cause: one farmer stopped reporting abortions after an unsuccessful differential diagnosis to identify the cause |
| Â | Ensure the absence of a specific disease or diseases in general (some farmers were not aware that brucellosis is the only disease tested) | Â |
| Â | Care for the aborting cow | Â |
Financial | Free visit | Financial costs of additional analyses and sanitary/medical measures to prevent further abortions |
Economic | Prevent further abortions | Lower sales of animals from a herd with seropositive animals |
Practical | Â | Animal has to be caught |
| Â | Â | Time-consuming |