Network Analysis of Cattle Movement in Mato Grosso Do Sul (Brazil) and Implications for Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Abstract

Foot-and mouth disease (FMD) is an animal disease that generates many economic impacts and sanctions on the international market. In 2018, Brazil, the world's largest beef exporter, had the recognition by World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as a country free of FMD with vaccination and proposed to withdraw FMD vaccination throughout the country, based on a 10-year schedule, beginning in 2019. Therefore, Brazil needs studies to help the decision-making process, particularly regarding the availability of resources for strengthening of official animal health services. The state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) was chosen to be analyzed for three reasons: the size of its herd, the economic importance of its livestock and its location-which lies on the border with Paraguay and Bolivia. The current study adopted the Social Network Analysis and performed an exploratory analysis of cattle movement in MS. The most central municipalities in the networks were identified and they can be seen as crucial in strategies to monitor animal movement and to control outbreaks. The cattle movement networks demonstrated to be strongly connected, implying a high-speed potential FMD diffusion, in case of reintroduction. In a second stage, we performed an exploratory analysis of animal movement within the state, assuming distinct points in time for the identification of animal origin. The results of the analysis underlined the need and relevance of investing in animal control, sanitary education for producers and equipment and technologies to assist in the early detection, diagnosis, and eradication of outbreaks in a fast and efficient manner, preventing a possible outbreak from spreading to other regions.

Multiple species animal movements: network properties, disease dynamics and the impact of targeted control actions

“…In the static network view, bovine networks accounted for 80.97% of the total movements and constituted 94.54% of farms in the database, generating the largest giant connected component sizes (GSCC and GWCC) and network diameter (Table 2 ). Within the full network, bovine farms acted as hubs that influenced the network dynamics by creating the presence of possible super spreader nodes such as event farms with a high out-degree, which has been described in other studies performed in Brazil [ 3 – 5 ]. In the current study, fairs and events movements represented only 0.16% of the total volume of all transported animals, which differed greatly from movement patterns in other countries such as in the UK where 30.4% of movements were related to movements to markets [ 38 ].…”

Analysis of cattle movement networks in Paraguay: Implications for the spread and control of infectious diseases

“…It is very likely that farms that did not recorded any movement are small properties that trade cattle with other small farms in their vicinity or do not exchange cattle at all. This phenomenon has been studied in other South American countries by estimating the number of unrecorded movements, such as reciprocal practices between neighbors or illegal movements [ 60 , 61 ]. Surveys could be implemented on small cattle farms to determine their trade practices.…”

Social Network Analysis in Farm Animals: Sensor-Based Approaches

“…Evaluation of animal social network studies assists the implementation of relevant strategies, rather than relying on theory alone which yields less productivity than the field experimentation results [1,46]. Researchers [46][47][48] have assessed the impact of SNA in animal groups to understand its implications in the agricultural industry's aims and objectives. SNA not only assists in the implementation of strategic industrial processes and the increase in scientific knowledge but also offers guidance for governmental and private interventions for enabling and introducing effective and innovative technologies in animal husbandry.…”