title: Endemic cattle diseases: comparative epidemiology and governance.
abstract: Cattle are infected by a community of endemic pathogens with different epidemiological properties that invoke different managerial and governmental responses. We present characteristics of pathogens that influence their ability to persist in the UK, and describe a qualitative framework of factors that influence the political response to a livestock disease. We develop simple transmission models for three pathogens (bovine viral diarrhoea virus, bovine herpesvirus and Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis) using observed cattle movements, and compare the outcomes to an extensive dataset. The results demonstrate that the epidemiology of the three pathogens is determined by different aspects of within- and between-farm processes, which has economic, legal and political implications for control. We consider how these pathogens, and Mycobacterium bovis (the agent of bovine tuberculosis), may be classified by the process by which they persist and by their political profile. We further consider the dynamic interaction of these classifications with pathogen prevalence and with the action taken by the government.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. david.carslake@bristol.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carslake
authors.forename: Wyn
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cave
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greaves
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keeling
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McEldowney
authors.forename: Habtu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weldegebriel
authors.forename: Graham F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Medley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001912:Bovine Virus Diarrhea-Mucosal Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002417:Cattle; D001908:Diarrhea Viruses, Bovine Viral; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011057:Politics; D011640:Public Policy; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology