Vaccination Is a Suitable Tool in the Control of Aujeszky’s Disease Outbreaks in Pigs Using a Population Dynamics P Systems Model

Abstract

Aujeszky’s disease is one of the main pig viral diseases and results in considerable economic losses in the pork production industry. The disease can be controlled using preventive measures such as improved stock management and vaccination throughout the pig-rearing period. We developed a stochastic model based on Population Dynamics P systems (PDP) models for a standard pig production system to differentiate between the effects of pig farm management regimes and vaccination strategies on the control of Aujeszky’s disease under several different epidemiological scenarios. Our results suggest that after confirming the diagnosis, early vaccination of most of the population (>75%) is critical to decrease the spread of the virus and minimize its impact on pig productivity. The direct economic cost of an outbreak of Aujeszky’s disease can be extremely high on a previously uninfected farm (from 352–792 Euros/sow/year) and highlights the positive benefits of investing in vaccination measures to control infections. We demonstrate the usefulness of computational models as tools in the evaluation of preventive medicine programs aimed at limiting the impact of disease on animal production.

Modeling of Vaccination and Contact Tracing as Tools to Control the COVID-19 Outbreak in Spain

“…The effect on the course of the pandemic due to different levels of the population protected by vaccination was compared in a population with 30,000 infected people at time 0. The vaccine was administered at time 0 and the probability of disease transmission from infected to non-infected people in the population was 0.05 or 0.1, when social measures were applied or not, respectively [ 30 ]. The population had no restrictions on normal activities, such as work, schools, or the use of restaurants and bars.…”

“…Population dynamic P system (PDP) models (inspired by the biology of cell function) provide an alternative to traditional modeling for the study of complex problems [ 28 ]. They allow handling of a very large number of interactions in a more efficient way [ 29 , 30 ] and have not previously been applied in human epidemiology. A stochastic model based on PDP modeling has been developed to study the course of COVID-19 epidemics under several different epidemiological scenarios.…”

Establishment of inflammatory model induced by Pseudorabies virus infection in mice

“…PRV always causes reproductive failure in pregnant sows; encephalitis, lung inflammation and high mortality in newborn piglets; and severe, uncontrollable pruritus and lethal neuropathy in non-natural hosts [ 6 7 8 ]. Vaccination is an available strategy for the prevention of PRV infection [ 9 ]; however, the commercially available vaccine against PRV is a potential health risk for other animals [ 10 ]. Despite the eradication of Pseudorabies from domestic pigs in some developed countries [ 11 ], in China, herds immunized with the Bartha-K61 vaccine were shown to be infected with highly virulent PRV variants since late 2011, resulting in severe socioeconomic consequences [ 12 13 14 ].…”

Driving Adoption and Commercialization of Subunit Vaccines for Bovine Tuberculosis and Johne’s Disease: Policy Choices and Implications for Food Security

“…One may argue that controlled management practices, which may be expensive at the early stages of implementation but pay off over time, would be cost-effective compared to vaccination. Some studies (e.g., [ 74 ]) examine the effects of vaccination versus management protocols in animal disease control. Although vaccines may increase costs, studies have shown that efficacious vaccines optimize disease control.…”