Combining Epidemiology and Economics to Reduce Damages from an Endemic Swine Disease

In this project we develop a SIR model with heterogeneous parameters to simulate the spread of a PRRS outbreak between and within swine farms located in a region of Minnesota. Disease diffusion is a function of farm type, distance between farms, animal shipments between farms, virus strain, farm vaccinations and vaccine efficacy. We convert estimated mortality and morbidity losses on individual farms into economic losses using market values, and I calculate vaccination benefits as the difference between farm losses with and without vaccination.

Pablo Valdes Donoso, DVM MPVM MS PhD
Pablo Valdes Donoso, DVM MPVM MS PhD
Assistant Professor of AI in Veterinary Medicine

My research interests include using different data sources to address issues regarding health and economics in food production.