Eight challenges in modelling infectious livestock diseases

Area of Science:

• Veterinary epidemiology
• Mathematical modeling of infectious diseases
• Animal health economics

Background:

• Infectious disease transmission in livestock shares fundamental principles with other animal populations.
• Control strategies for livestock diseases are primarily driven by economic considerations, often overshadowing social, political, and welfare factors.
• Livestock disease modeling is uniquely positioned to leverage rich data from transmission experiments and individual animal tracking but faces significant data scarcity issues compared to human diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of the distinct challenges encountered in modeling infectious diseases within livestock populations.
• To identify key areas for improvement in livestock disease modeling that would lead to substantial advancements in the field.
• To highlight the interplay between data availability, funding, and the complexity of disease transmission dynamics in agricultural animals.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of existing literature on livestock disease transmission and modeling.
• Identification and categorization of unique challenges specific to livestock disease modeling.
• Analysis of data richness versus data scarcity in the context of livestock versus human disease modeling.

Main Results:

• Livestock disease modeling benefits from detailed experimental and tracking data, offering insights into transmission mechanisms and contact networks.
• Significant data gaps persist for many livestock diseases globally, often due to limited funding compared to human disease research.
• Eight specific challenges unique to livestock disease modeling have been identified as critical areas for future research and development.

Conclusions:

• Overcoming the identified challenges in livestock disease modeling is crucial for enhancing disease control and economic outcomes in animal agriculture.
• Future progress hinges on addressing the unique data and funding landscapes inherent to livestock health research.
• Targeted efforts in these eight areas promise to significantly improve our capacity to model and manage infectious diseases in livestock.