title: Control of a highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the GB poultry flock.
abstract: The identification of H5N1 in domestic poultry in Europe has increased the risk of infection reaching most industrialized poultry populations. Here, using detailed data on the poultry population in Great Britain (GB), we show that currently planned interventions based on movement restrictions can be expected to control the majority of outbreaks. The probability that controls fail to keep an outbreak small only rises to significant levels if most transmission occurs via mechanisms which are both untraceable and largely independent of the local density of premises. We show that a predictor of the need to intensify control efforts in GB is whether an outbreak exceeds 20 infected premises. In such a scenario neither localized reactive vaccination nor localized culling are likely to have a substantial impact. The most effective of these contingent interventions are large radius (10 km) localized culling and national vaccination. However, the modest impact of these approaches must be balanced against their substantial inconvenience and cost.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, UK. j.truscott@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Truscott
authors.forename: Tini
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Garske
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chis-Ster
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guitian
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Snow
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilesmith
authors.forename: Neil M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Azra C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ghani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011200:Poultry / Q000821:virology*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary