Modeling the burden of poultry disease on the rural poor in Madagascar

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Cassidy L. Rist, Emory University; Calistus N. Ngonghala, Harvard Medical School; Andres Garchitorena, Harvard Medical School; Cara E. Brook, Princeton University; Ranto Ramananjato, Institut National de la Statistique; Ann C. Miller, Harvard Medical School; Milijaona Randrianarivelojosia, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar; Patricia C. Wright, Stony Brook University; Thomas Gillespie, Emory University; Matthew H. Bonds, Harvard Medical School
• Language: English
• Date: 2015-12-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2015 The Authors.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2015.10.002
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: One Health
• ISSN: 2352-7714
• Volume: 1
• Start Page: 60
• End Page: 65
• Grant/Funding Information: MHB was funded by the James McDonnell Foundation (#220020322) and NIH grant (#K01TW008773) from the Fogarty International Center. Funders were not responsible for study design; the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.; This study was funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Phase I Grand Challenges Explorations Grant (#OPP1098855), the James and Robin Herrnstein Foundation, and the Emory Global Health Institute.
• Keywords: Economics; Poultry; Livestock; Infectious disease modeling; Poverty
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Agriculture, Animal Pathology

Abstract

Livestock represent a fundamental economic and nutritional resource for many households in the developing world; however, a high burden of infectious disease limits their production potential. Here we present an ecological framework for estimating the burden of poultry disease based on coupled models of infectious disease and economics. The framework is novel, as it values humans and livestock as co-contributors to household wellbeing, incorporating feedbacks between poultry production and human capital in disease burden estimates. We parameterize this coupled ecological-economic model with household-level data to provide an estimate of the overall burden of poultry disease for the Ifanadiana District in Madagascar, where over 72% of households rely on poultry for economic and food security. Our models indicate that households may lose 10-25% of their monthly income under current disease conditions. Results suggest that advancements in poultry health may serve to support income generation through improvements in both human and animal health.