title: Is endemic stability of tick-borne disease in cattle a useful concept?
abstract: Endemic stability is a widely used term in the epidemiology of ticks and tick-borne diseases. It is generally accepted to refer to a state of a host-tick-pathogen interaction in which there is a high level of challenge of calves by infected ticks, absence of clinical disease in calves despite infection, and a high level of immunity in adult cattle with consequent low incidence of clinical disease. Although endemic stability is a valid epidemiological concept, the modelling studies that underpinned subsequent studies on the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases were specific to a single host-tick-pathogen system, and values derived from these models should not be applied in other regions or host-tick-pathogen systems.
authors.affiliation: College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 464 Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK. nicholas.jonsson@glasgow.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nicholas N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.forename: Russell E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Wayne K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Jorgensen
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Stear
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000662:veterinary*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008954:Models, Biological; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013987:Ticks / Q000469:parasitology*