Evaluation of adaptive test strategies for control and eradication of paratuberculosis within dairy cattle herds.

摘要: Paratuberculosis is a chronic infection caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP). A long subclinical phase challenges the test strategies and interpretation of diagnostic information. A bio-economic herd simulation model was used to adapt the sampling interval in response to the estimated true prevalence in the herd, so the farmer could reduce the prevalence to a given tolerance level focusing on profit maximisation. When the prevalence was below the tolerance level, the sampling interval was longer, and when the prevalence was above the tolerance level, the sampling interval was shorter. The results showed that the adaptive test strategy could be used to reduce the prevalence in the simulated herd, which depended on both the sampling interval and the tolerance level used. Moreover, the simulations showed a potential for saving costs for testing when combining the adaptive strategy …