Assessment of transmission rates and routes, and the implications for management

Abstract

Being able to estimate disease transmission rates and determine the underlying mechanisms of transmission is fundamental to the effective management of wildlife disease - transmission rates drive disease dynamics and persistence, and thus determine the level of control or vaccination necessary to achieve disease eradication, or predict the likely impact of a biocontrol agent. The mechanisms of transmission determine where management efforts can be targeted. Not knowing and not being able to estimate transmission rates when trying to manage disease in wildlife is analogous to managing overpopulated wildlife without knowing the intrinsic rate of population increase. Being able to estimate transmission rates allows us to determine whether management actions are achieving their aims. This chapter looks at the measures of disease transmission and how they can be calculated. We recommend that the non-mathematical readers skim through Section 3.2 without trying to follow the mathematics, and refer back to it when needed. © Springer 2009.