Ž . Preventive Veterinary Medicine 34 1998 87–95 A case-control study on bovine tuberculosis in the ž / Veneto Region Italy Stefano Marangon a, ) , Marco Martini b , Manuela Dalla Pozza a , Jose Ferreira Neto c ` a Centro Regionale di Epidemiologia Veterinaria, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, ( ) Legnaro PD , Italy b Dipartimento di Sanita Pubblica Veterinaria e Patologia Animale, UniÕersita degli Studi di Bologna, ` ` ( ) Ozzano Emilia BO , Italy c Faculdade de Medecina Veterinaria e Zootecnia, UniÕersidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil ˜ ˜ Accepted 30 October 1997 Abstract A case-control study was undertaken to provide information about the role of some husbandry practices and farm characteristics in the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region. Twenty-seven breeding herds where a positive result to the single intradermal cervical tuberculin test was confirmed by post-mortem examination were compared with seventy-four herds which had been free of the disease for at least three years. Epidemiological information was collected on farms. The factors taken into account in the study were chosen on the basis of their epidemiological plausibility and of the local livestock characteristics. Multiple logistic regression was applied to analyse the data. Factors identified as possibly involved in increasing the risk of Ž . bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region were the presence of mixed dairy and beef enterprises Ž . Ž . Ž OR s4.9, P s0.001 and of cattle purchase OR s5.8; P s0.003 . Other factors such as herd size, housing system, summer mountain pasture, possible contact with wild animals, and indirect . contacts with other herds did not appear to significantly contribute to tuberculosis presence in this area. The results of this case-control study support the hypothesis that in the Veneto Region Ž bovine tuberculosis infection is still associated with classical risk factors both directly or . indirectly related to cattle movements. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords: Tuberculosis; Cattle microbiological diseases; Case-control study; Italy ) Corresponding author: Centro Regionale di Epidemiologia Veterinaria-Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimen- Ž . tale delle Venezie, Via Romea, 14rA, 35020 Legnaro PD , Italy. Tel.: q39 49 8830 380; fax: q39 49 8830 268r046; e-mail crev@ux1.unipd.it 0167-5877r98r$19.00 q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII S0167-5877 97 00087-1