Could a rabies incursion spread in the northern Australian dingo population? Development of a spatial stochastic simulation model.

ABSTRACT: Australia, home to the iconic dingo, is currently free from canine rabies. However northern Australia, including Indigenous communities with large free-roaming domestic dog populations, is at increased risk of rabies incursion from nearby Indonesia. We developed a novel agent-based stochastic spatial rabies spread model to evaluate the potential spread of rabies within the dingo population of the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) region of northern Australia. The model incorporated spatio-temporal features specific to this host-environment system, including landscape heterogeneity, demographic fluctuations, dispersal movements and dingo ecological parameters-such as home range size and density-derived from NPA field studies. Rabies spread between dingo packs in nearly 60% of simulations. In su

SUBMITTER: Gabriele-Rivet V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7906478 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature