2.1. Study population and data collection
The study included two main datasets: 1.
Vaccination and demographic data
on 566 dairy farms insured by the ‘Hachaklait’ organization during the
years 2016-2019 (Figure 1, Dataset 1 ). This data was collected
from the ‘Hachaklait’ and included the type of herd (moshav/kibbutz),
the district (which was classified into three geographic areas: north,
centre and south) and payment for vaccination during the years
2016-2019. In addition, we collected information regarding the
occurrence of an LSD epidemic in the herd during 2012-2013. 2. Ninety
TPB questionnaires were filled out by dairy farmers regarding their
intention to vaccinate against LSD (Figure 1, Dataset 2 ). These
questionnaires were part of a larger survey performed among dairy
farmers, inquiring about the intention to vaccinate against five cattle
diseases. The questionnaires were distributed at the annual Israeli
cattle conference, which was held in December 2018, and in 13 following
conferences, seminars, professional training courses and other meetings
organized by the dairy farmers during the years 2019-2020. We
intersected these two datasets to study the association of intention
with actual vaccination. The intersection yielded 56 questionnaires. We
could not intersect the remaining 34 questionnaires due to the lack of
identifying details (Figure 1, Data-intersect 1 ).