An epidemiological model of rinderpest. I. Description of the model

The development of an epidemiological model of rinderpest in cattle and wildlife populations is described. The model uses a state-transition structure, incorporating a stochastic element through the use of Monte-Carlo methods modified to allow large populations to be simulated. The potential applications include the estimation of "safe" host population immunity rates and the design of cost-effective rinderpest vaccination programmes.