title: CystiSim - An Agent-Based Model for Taenia solium Transmission and Control.
abstract: Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis was declared eradicable by the International Task Force for Disease Eradication in 1993, but remains a neglected zoonosis. To assist in the attempt to regionally eliminate this parasite, we developed cystiSim, an agent-based model for T. solium transmission and control. The model was developed in R and available as an R package (http://cran.r-project.org/package=cystiSim). cystiSim was adapted to an observed setting using field data from Tanzania, but adaptable to other settings if necessary. The model description adheres to the Overview, Design concepts, and Details (ODD) protocol and consists of two entities-pigs and humans. Pigs acquire cysticercosis through the environment or by direct contact with a tapeworm carrier's faeces. Humans acquire taeniosis from slaughtered pigs proportional to their infection intensity. The model allows for evaluation of three interventions measures or combinations hereof: treatment of humans, treatment of pigs, and pig vaccination, and allows for customary coverage and efficacy settings. cystiSim is the first agent-based transmission model for T. solium and suggests that control using a strategy consisting of an intervention only targeting the porcine host is possible, but that coverage and efficacy must be high if elimination is the ultimate goal. Good coverage of the intervention is important, but can be compensated for by including an additional intervention targeting the human host. cystiSim shows that the scenarios combining interventions in both hosts, mass drug administration to humans, and vaccination and treatment of pigs, have a high probability of success if coverage of 75% can be maintained over at least a four year period. In comparison with an existing mathematical model for T. solium transmission, cystiSim also includes parasite maturation, host immunity, and environmental contamination. Adding these biological parameters to the model resulted in new insights in the potential effect of intervention measures.
authors.affiliation: Section for Parasitology and Aquatic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Uffe Christian
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2743-4584
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Braae
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Surveillance, Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Brecht
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Devleesschauwer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.|Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabriël
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.|Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dorny
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society (IRSS), Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Speybroeck
authors.affiliation: Section for Parasitology and Aquatic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.|Centre for Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Magnussen
authors.affiliation: Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Torgerson
authors.affiliation: Section for Parasitology and Aquatic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Maria Vang
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Johansen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D020407:Internet; D013552:Swine / Q000469:parasitology; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission*; D041201:Taenia solium / Q000502:physiology; D013622:Taeniasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*; D014611:Vaccination; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission