The focus of this research is to present a theoretical model of averting actions that households take to avoid exposure to Yersinia enterocolitica in contaminated food. The cost of illness approach only takes into account the value of a cure, while the averting behavior approach can estimate the value of preventing the illness. The household, rather than the individual, is the unit of analysis in this model, where one household member is primarily responsible for procuring uncontaminated food for their family. Since children are particularly susceptible and live with parents who are primary decision makers for sustenance, the designated household head makes the choices that are investigated in this paper. This model uses constrained optimization to characterize activities that may offer protection from exposure to Yersinia enterocolitica contaminated food. A representative household decision maker is assumed to allocate family resources to maximize utility of an altruistic parent, an assumption used in most research involving economics of the family. Yersiniosis remains a public health hazard due to exposure to contaminated food and human to human or zoonotic infections. Yersinia enterocolitica is an important cause of yersiniosis in humans and animals; its epidemiology remains yet to be fully understood and exposure to it is a growing food safety concern [1–5]. There are a number of recent reviews published on specific aspects of Y. enterocolitica, and while some of these studies investigate incidence rates, true incidence in developed and developing countries remain unknown [1, 6–10]. One of the most frequent outcomes of Y. enterocolitica is possibly diarrhea as exemplified by a study in Poland [11]. A study on methods of monitoring trends in incidence of foodborne diseases in the United States is a welcome instrument in the estimation of incidence of Y. enterocolitica and other pathogens [12]. Studies of incidence, combined with studies investigating behaviors of individuals responding to information of incidence and risk levels of Y. enterocolitica can be useful for public health mitigation policies. In this paper we discuss a behavioral model with a focus on avoiding health hazards associated with exposure to Y. enterocolitica. The paper is theoretical and the conceptual model presented here is not showcased with data. The theoretical framework easily lends itself to application subject to availability of secondary data. One major thrust of the theoretical discussion revolves around the heuristic notion “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
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