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Biemans, Floor
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Biemans, Floor
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Biemans, Floor
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- PublicationModelling transmission of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis between Irish dairy cattle herds(Springer, 2022-06-22)
; ; ; ; Bovine paratuberculosis is an endemic disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map). Map is mainly transmitted between herds through movement of infected but undetected animals. Our objective was to investigate the effect of observed herd characteristics on Map spread on a national scale in Ireland. Herd characteristics included herd size, number of breeding bulls introduced, number of animals purchased and sold, and number of herds the focal herd purchases from and sells to. We used these characteristics to classify herds in accordance with their probability of becoming infected and of spreading infection to other herds. A stochastic individual-based model was used to represent herd demography and Map infection dynamics of each dairy cattle herd in Ireland. Data on herd size and composition, as well as birth, death, and culling events were used to characterize herd demography. Herds were connected with each other through observed animal trade movements. Data consisted of 13 353 herds, with 4 494 768 dairy female animals, and 72 991 breeding bulls. We showed that the probability of an infected animal being introduced into the herd increases both with an increasing number of animals that enter a herd via trade and number of herds from which animals are sourced. Herds that both buy and sell a lot of animals pose the highest infection risk to other herds and could therefore play an important role in Map spread between herds.237 - PublicationModel to simulate the spread of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) within and between herds via trade movements between dairy herds(2022-08-29)
; ; ; ; ; Model to simulate the spread of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) within and between herds via trade movements between dairy herds. Control measures can be applied: - trade movements rewiring to foster exchanges between herds of the same status (according to within-herd prevalence) (w option) - hygiene, by decreasing calf exposure to bacterial environment (e option) - early culling of high shedders (k option). Model is mechanistic (infection dynamics) and data-driven (movements and demography), stochastic, discrete-time and individual-based. Requirements: C++ compiler: g++ (tested version: 7.2.0) => sudo apt install g++. Warning: standard library C++11 is required. tclap (version 1.2.1): sudo apt install libtclap-dev.48 - PublicationModelling transmission and control of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis within Irish dairy herds with compact spring calving(Elsevier, 2021-01)
; ; ; ; Paratuberculosis is a chronic bacterial infection of the intestine in cattle caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map). To better understand Map transmission in Irish dairy herds, we adapted the French stochastic individual-based epidemiological simulation model to account for seasonal herd demographics. We investigated the probability of Map persistence over time, the within-herd prevalence over time, and the relative importance of transmission pathways, and assessed the relative effectiveness of test-and-cull control strategies. We investigated the impact on model outputs of calf separation from cows (calves grazed on pasture adjacent to cows vs. were completely separated from cows) and test-and-cull. Test-and-cull scenarios consisted of highly test-positive cows culled within 13 or 4 weeks after detection, and calf born to highly test-positive cows kept vs removed. We simulated a typical Irish dairy herd with on average 82 lactating cows, 112 animals in total. Each scenario was iterated 1000 times to adjust variation caused by stochasticity. Map was introduced in the fully naive herd through the purchase of a moderately infectious primiparous cow. Infection was considered to persist when at least one infected animal remained in the herd or when Map was present in the environment. The probability of Map persistence 15 years after introduction ranged between 32.2–42.7 % when calves and cows had contact on pasture, and between 18.9–29.4 % when calves and cows were separated on pasture. The most effective control strategy was to cull highly test-positive cows within four weeks of detection (absolute 10 % lower persistence compared to scenarios without control). Removing the offspring of highly test-positive dams did not affect either Map persistence or within-herd prevalence of Map. Mean prevalence 15 years after Map introduction was highest (63.5 %) when calves and cows had contact on pasture. Mean prevalence was 15 % lower (absolute decrease) when cows were culled within 13 weeks of a high test-positive result, and 28 % lower when culled within 4 weeks. Around calving, the infection rate was high, with calves being infected in utero or via the general indoor environment (most important transmission routes). For the remainder of the year, the incidence rate was relatively low with most calves being infected on pasture when in contact with cows. Testing and culling was an effective control strategy when it was used prior to the calving period to minimize the number of highly infectious cows present when calves were born.100Scopus© Citations 5