Approach to assess the economic impact of bovine tuberculosis in Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract
Bovine TB is prevalent in Ethiopian cattle and represents a serious zoonotic risk. However, extensive epidemiological data in the human and livestock sector are lacking. Create a dynamic transmission model of disease between animal and human, as a prerequisite for economic analysis of the most profitable intervention to control BTB in Ethiopia. Study on-going (2005-2010), epidemiological (prevalence, risk factors) and cost (human and livestock) data are collected in eight sites over a period of four years and fed into a compartmental trans-sectoral framework that simulates disease transmission. Different intervention scenarios will then be simulated in the model. The most profitable intervention to control BTB in Ethiopia has to be assessed as well as the cost sharing scheme between the public health and agricultural sectors. It has been postulated that a test and slaughter policy would have a negative economic impact in Ethiopia. Alternatives need to be assessed. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2008;22(Special Issue):135-138