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Analyses of Contact Networks of Community Dogs on a University Campus in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

ABSTRACT: Free-roaming dogs have been identified as an important reservoir of rabies in many countries including Thailand. There is a need for novel insights to improve current rabies control strategies in these countries. Network analysis is commonly used to study the interactions between individuals or organizations and has been applied in preventive veterinary medicine. However, contact networks of domestic free-roaming dogs are mostly unexplored. The objective of this study was to explore the contact network of free-roaming dogs residing on a university campus. Three one-mode networks were created using co-appearances of dogs as edges. A two-mode network was created by associating the dog with the pre-defined area it was seen in. The average number of contacts a dog had was 6.74. The normalized degree for the weekend network was significantly higher compared to the weekday network. All one-mode networks displayed small-world network characteristics. Most dogs were observed in only one area. The average number of dogs which shared an area was 8.67. In this study, we demonstrated the potential of observational methods to create networks of contacts. The network information acquired can be further used in network modeling and designing targeted disease control programs.

SUBMITTER: Kittisiam T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8704209 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Analyses of Contact Networks of Community Dogs on a University Campus in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Kittisiam Tipsarp T Phimpraphai Waraphon W Kasemsuwan Suwicha S Thakur Krishna Kumar KK

Veterinary sciences 20211130 12

Free-roaming dogs have been identified as an important reservoir of rabies in many countries including Thailand. There is a need for novel insights to improve current rabies control strategies in these countries. Network analysis is commonly used to study the interactions between individuals or organizations and has been applied in preventive veterinary medicine. However, contact networks of domestic free-roaming dogs are mostly unexplored. The objective of this study was to explore the contact ...[more]

PMID: 34941826

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Project description:BackgroundMany have proposed the use of Bluetooth technology to help scale up contact tracing for COVID-19. However, much remains unknown about the accuracy of this technology in real-world settings, the attitudes of potential users, and the differences between delivery formats (mobile app vs carriable or wearable devices).ObjectiveWe pilot tested 2 separate Bluetooth contact tracing technologies on a university campus to evaluate their sensitivity and specificity, and to learn from the experiences of the participants.MethodsWe used a convergent mixed methods study design, and participants included graduate students and researchers working on a university campus during June and July 2020. We conducted separate 2-week pilot studies for each Bluetooth technology. The first was for a mobile phone app ("app pilot"), and the second was for a small electronic "tag" ("tag pilot"). Participants validated a list of Bluetooth-identified contacts daily and reported additional close contacts not identified by Bluetooth. We used these data to estimate sensitivity and specificity. Participants completed a postparticipation survey regarding appropriateness, usability, acceptability, and adherence, and provided additional feedback via free text. We used tests of proportions to evaluate differences in survey responses between participants from each pilot, paired t tests to measure differences between compatible survey questions, and qualitative analysis to evaluate the survey's free-text responses.ResultsAmong 25 participants in the app pilot, 53 contact interactions were identified by Bluetooth and an additional 61 by self-report. Among 17 participants in the tag pilot, 171 contact interactions were identified by Bluetooth and an additional 4 by self-report. The tag had significantly higher sensitivity compared with the app (46/49, 94% vs 35/61, 57%; P<.001), as well as higher specificity (120/126, 95% vs 123/141, 87%; P=.02). Most participants felt that Bluetooth contact tracing was appropriate on campus (26/32, 81%), while significantly fewer participants felt that using other technologies, such as GPS or Wi-Fi, was appropriate (17/31, 55%; P=.02). Most participants preferred technology developed and managed by the university rather than a third party (27/32, 84%) and preferred not to have tracing apps on their personal phones (21/32, 66%), due to "concerns with privacy." There were no significant differences in self-reported adherence rates across pilots.ConclusionsConvenient and carriable Bluetooth technology may improve tracing efficiency while alleviating privacy concerns by shifting data collection away from personal devices. With accuracy comparable to, and in this case, superior to, mobile phone apps, such approaches may be suitable for workplace or school settings with the ability to purchase and maintain physical devices.

Project description:BackgroundSignificant uncertainty has existed about the safety of reopening college and university campuses before the COVID-19 pandemic is better controlled. Moreover, little is known about the effects that on-campus students may have on local higher-risk communities.ObjectiveWe aimed to estimate the range of potential community and campus COVID-19 exposures, infections, and mortality under various university reopening plans and uncertainties.MethodsWe developed campus-only, community-only, and campus × community epidemic differential equations and agent-based models, with inputs estimated via published and grey literature, expert opinion, and parameter search algorithms. Campus opening plans (spanning fully open, hybrid, and fully virtual approaches) were identified from websites and publications. Additional student and community exposures, infections, and mortality over 16-week semesters were estimated under each scenario, with 10% trimmed medians, standard deviations, and probability intervals computed to omit extreme outliers. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to inform potential effective interventions.ResultsPredicted 16-week campus and additional community exposures, infections, and mortality for the base case with no precautions (or negligible compliance) varied significantly from their medians (4- to 10-fold). Over 5% of on-campus students were infected after a mean of 76 (SD 17) days, with the greatest increase (first inflection point) occurring on average on day 84 (SD 10.2 days) of the semester and with total additional community exposures, infections, and mortality ranging from 1-187, 13-820, and 1-21 per 10,000 residents, respectively. Reopening precautions reduced infections by 24%-26% and mortality by 36%-50% in both populations. Beyond campus and community reproductive numbers, sensitivity analysis indicated no dominant factors that interventions could primarily target to reduce the magnitude and variability in outcomes, suggesting the importance of comprehensive public health measures and surveillance.ConclusionsCommunity and campus COVID-19 exposures, infections, and mortality resulting from reopening campuses are highly unpredictable regardless of precautions. Public health implications include the need for effective surveillance and flexible campus operations.

Project description:BackgroundMicroorganisms are distributed on surfaces within homes, workplaces, and schools, with the potential to impact human health and disease. University campuses represent a unique opportunity to explore the distribution of microorganisms within built environments because of high human population densities, throughput, and variable building usage. For example, the main campus of the University of Waterloo spans four square kilometres, hosts over 40,000 individuals daily, and is comprised of a variety of buildings, including lecture halls, gyms, restaurants, residences, and a daycare.ResultsRepresentative left and right entrance door handles from each of the 65 buildings at the University of Waterloo were swabbed at three time points during an academic term in order to determine if microbial community assemblages coincided with building usage and whether these communities are stable temporally. Across all door handles, the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, which comprised 89.0 % of all reads. A total of 713 genera were observed, 16 of which constituted a minimum of 1 % of the 2,458,094 classified and rarefied reads. Archaea were found in low abundance (~0.03 %) but were present on 42.8 % of the door handles on 96 % of buildings across all time points, indicating that they are ubiquitous at very low levels on door handle surfaces. Although inter-handle variability was high, several individual building entrances harbored distinct microbial communities that were consistent over time. The presence of visible environmental debris on a subset of handles was associated with distinct microbial communities (beta diversity), increased richness (alpha diversity), and higher biomass (adenosine 5'-triphosphate; ATP).ConclusionsThis study demonstrates highly variable microbial communities associated with frequently contacted door handles on a university campus. Nonetheless, the data also revealed several building-specific and temporally stable bacterial and archaeal community patterns, with a potential impact of accumulated debris, a possible result of low human throughput, on detected microbial communities.

Dataset Information

Analyses of Contact Networks of Community Dogs on a University Campus in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Publications

Analyses of Contact Networks of Community Dogs on a University Campus in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

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