A combined epidemiological-economic modelling approach was used to analyse strategies for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) control for the Netherlands. The modelling framework used was InterSpread Plus (ISP), a spatially based, stochastic and dynamic simulation model. A total of eight control strategies were analysed, including pre-emptive depopulation and vaccination strategies. The analysis was carried out for three different regions in the Netherlands: high-, medium- and low-density areas (HDA, MDA and LDA, respectively). The analysis included the veterinary impact (e.g. number of infected premises and duration), but was particularly focused on the impact on direct costs (DC) and direct consequential costs. The efficient set of control strategies for HDA and MDA included strategies based on either pre-emptive depopulation only or combined vaccination and pre-emptive depopulation: D2 (pre-emptive depopulation within a radius of 2 km), RV3 + D1 (ring vaccination within a radius of 3 km and additional pre-emptive depopulation within a radius of 1 km) and PV + D1 (preventive vaccination in non-affected HDAs and pre-emptive depopulation within a radius of 1 km in the affected HDA). Although control solely based on depopulation in most cases showed to be effective for LDA, pre-emptive depopulation showed to have an additional advantage in these areas, that is, prevention of 'virus jumps' to other areas. The pros and cons of the efficient control strategies were discussed, for example, public perception and risk of export restrictions. It was concluded that for the Netherlands control of HPAI preferably should be carried out using strategies including pre-emptive depopulation with or without vaccination. Particularly, the short- and long-term implications on export, that is, indirect consequential costs (ICC) and aftermath costs of these strategies, should be analysed further.

Economic analysis of control strategies for contagious diseases is a necessity in the development of contingency plans. Economic impacts arising from epidemics such as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) consist of direct costs (DC), direct consequential costs (DCC), indirect consequential costs (ICC) and aftermath costs (AC). Epidemiological models to support economic analysis need to provide adequate outputs for these critical economic parameters. Of particular importance for DCC, ICC and AC is the spatial production structure of a region. Spatial simulation models are therefore particularly suited for economic analysis; however, they often require a large number of parameters. The aims of this study are (i) to provide an economic rationale of epidemiological modelling in general, (ii) to provide a transparent description of the parameterization of a spatially based epidemiological model for the analysis of HPAI control in the Netherlands and (iii) to discuss the validity and usefulness of this model for subsequent economic analysis. In the model, HPAI virus transmission occurs via local spread and animal movements. Control mechanisms include surveillance and tracing, movement restrictions and depopulation. Sensitivity analysis of key parameters indicated that the epidemiological outputs with the largest influence on the economic impacts (i.e. epidemic duration and number of farms in the movement restriction zone) were more robust than less influential indicators (i.e. number of infected farms). Economically relevant outputs for strategy comparison were most sensitive to the relative role of the different transmission parameters. The default simulation and results of the sensitivity analysis were consistent with the general outcomes of known HPAI models. Comparison was, however, limited due to the absence of some economically relevant outputs. It was concluded that the model creates economically relevant, adequate and credible output for subsequent use in economic analysis. A detailed economic analysis is presented in a subsequent article.

To analyze the market effects of HPAI control in the Dutch layer sector an integrated modelling approach was developed to simulate these effects. This approach included (1) an extensive epidemiological simulation, (2) farm level costs calculation and conversion, and (3) partial equilibrium (PE) modelling of the Dutch layer sector. Model structure and behavioural equations of the latter are described. The basis for the analysis of model behaviour were simulated HPAI epidemics which resulted in changes of stocks, i.e. shocks. These epidemics were simulated for different regions, control strategies and severity. Using the epidemiological input subsequently model behaviour was analyzed on the impacts of supply and demand shocks, trade bans and channeling restrictions. The results showed a remarkable impact of the pyramidal production chain structure on the market effects: culling of parent stock during the epidemic could result in an under-capacity of subsequent levels of the production chain with associated price effects. In some cases, restoring the starting situation could take 3 years. Moreover, different and sometimes conflicting market effects per chain level could be observed. Finally, the impact of demand shocks and the potential for channeling to industrial processing of eggs was observed. The results were discussed in view of conceptual validity and internal model verification, data validity and operational validity. It was concluded that this modelling approach provides a suitable basis for extensive analysis of market effects of HPAI epidemics.

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