Multicriteria Evaluation of Classical Swine Fever Control Strategies Using the Choquet Integral

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Epidemiology
• Animal Health Management
• Decision Science

Background:

• Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly contagious animal disease requiring optimal control strategies.
• Control strategy selection involves epidemiological, economic, and ethical/social considerations.
• Multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) offers a framework for evaluating complex choices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate six different classical swine fever (CSF) control strategies using MCDM.
• To compare traditional methods with alternative strategies like emergency vaccination and rapid PCR testing.
• To analyze the influence of regional farm density and stakeholder perceptions on strategy selection.

Main Methods:

• Employed the MACBETH approach to assess epidemiological, economic, and ethical/social criteria.
• Translated quantitative and qualitative subcriteria into a normalized scale.
• Utilized the Choquet integral to rank strategies, considering criterion interactions.

Main Results:

• Alternative control strategies were favored over minimum EU and traditional culling methods.
• Both region-specific factors and criterion importance rankings influenced the optimal strategy choice.
• MCDM proved valuable as optimal strategy selection extends beyond purely epidemiological efficiency.

Conclusions:

• MCDM approaches like MACBETH and Choquet integral are feasible for CSF control strategy evaluation.
• MACBETH provides an intuitive, qualitative assessment, while Choquet integral accounts for criterion interactions.
• Integrating diverse criteria is crucial for selecting the most effective and acceptable CSF control measures.