%0 Journal Article
%T Characterizing the interface between wild ducks and poultry to evaluate the potential of transmission of avian pathogens
%A Julien Cappelle
%A Nicolas Gaidet
%A Samuel A Iverson
%A John Y Takekawa
%A Scott H Newman
%A Bouba Fofana
%A Marius Gilbert
%J International Journal of Health Geographics
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-072x-10-60
%X Our results show a strong seasonal variation in potential contact rate between wild ducks and poultry. We found that the exposure of poultry to wild birds was greatest at the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season, when comb ducks disperse from natural water bodies to irrigated areas near villages.Our study provides at a local scale a quantitative evidence of the seasonal variability of contact rate between wild and domestic bird populations. It illustrates a GIS-based methodology for estimating epidemiological contact rates at the wildlife and livestock interface integrating high-resolution satellite telemetry and remote sensing data.A large proportion (72%) of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases originate from wildlife, and most of the emerging disease hotspots are in tropical areas [1]. The wildlife-livestock interface is therefore of major interest because domestic animals are the most likely link between wildlife reservoirs and humans [2]. The wildlife-livestock interface is also of major interest for the study of economically important animal diseases like poultry diseases [3]. Research efforts on the wildlife-livestock interface are needed to better understand and control animal and zoonotic infectious diseases involving wildlife [4]. Characterizing the spatiotemporal interactions between wild and domestic animals is a key improvement of our knowledge of epidemiological dynamics [5]. The contact rate between wild and domestic hosts is one of the key parameters of the transmission of pathogens. Most of mathematical models of disease transmission have included ¦Â as a unique parameter that describes transmission [6]. ¦Â combines different effects of measurable biological parameters including the contact rate between hosts and the probability that contact events actually result in disease transmission [7]. Field assessments that accurately estimate the contact rate between hosts could improve estimates of ¦Â and the quality of epidemiological
%K Distribution modelling
%K Satellite Telemetry
%K Contact rate
%K Remote sensing
%K MODIS
%K GPS
%K Maxent
%U http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/10/1/60