Assessing the economic impact of vaccine availability when controlling foot and mouth disease outbreaks

T Porphyre*, KM Rich, HK Auty

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)
46 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Predictive models have been used extensively to assess the likely effectiveness of vaccination policies as part of control measures in the event of a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. However the availability of vaccine stocks and the impact of vaccine availability on disease control strategies represent a key uncertainty when assessing potential control strategies. Using an epidemiological, spatially explicit, simulation model in combination with a direct cost calculator, we assessed how vaccine availability constraints may affect the economic benefit of a ‘vaccination-to-live’ strategy during a FMD outbreak in Scotland, when implemented alongside culling of infected premises and dangerous contacts. We investigated the impact of vaccine stock size and restocking delays on epidemiological and economic outcomes. We also assessed delays in the initial decision to vaccinate, maximum daily vaccination capacity, and vaccine efficacy. For scenarios with conditions conducive to large outbreaks, all vaccination strategies perform better than the strategy where only culling is implemented. A stock of 200,000 doses, enough to vaccinate 12% of the Scottish cattle population, would be sufficient to maximize the relative benefits of vaccination, both epidemiologically and economically. However, this generates a wider variation in economic cost than if vaccination is not implemented, making outcomes harder to predict. The probability of direct costs exceeding GBP500 million is reduced when vaccination is used, and is steadily reduced further as the size of initial vaccine stock increases. If only a suboptimal quantity of vaccine doses is initially available (100,000 doses), restocking delays of more than two weeks rapidly increase the cost of controlling outbreaks. Impacts of low vaccine availability or restocking delays are particularly aggravated by delays in the initial decision to vaccinate, or low vaccine efficacy. Our findings confirm that implementing an emergency vaccination-to-live strategy in addition to the conventional stamping out strategy is economically beneficial in scenarios with conditions conducive to large FMD outbreaks in Scotland.
Original languageEnglish
JournalFrontiers in Veterinary Science
Volume5
Issue number47
Early online date13 Mar 2018
DOIs
Publication statusFirst published - 13 Mar 2018

Bibliographical note

1031449

Keywords

  • Benefit-cost analysis
  • Control strategies
  • Foot-and-mouth disease
  • Vaccination
  • Vaccine stocks

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