Investigating the Epidemiology of Bovine Tuberculosis in the European Badger

该项目将利用对獾和牛结核病的长期研究，使用最先进的统计模型来了解獾-牛结核病相互作用的人口学和流行病学。该项目是埃克塞特大学与动植物卫生局合作开展的一项重大研究计划的一部分，目的是了解野生动物疾病的生态和进化动态，重点是牛结核病。我们开发了疾病进展和传播的综合统计模型(McDonald，J.L.，Bailey，T.，Delahay，R.J.，McDonald，R.A.，Smith，G.C.，Hodgson，D.J.(2016)，人口缓冲和补偿性招募促进了疾病在野生动物种群中的持久性。EcolLett，19：443-449)，现在希望扩展这些模型，以包括关于种群遗传学、社会和空间结构、老龄化和近亲繁殖的信息。该项目将对这一重要的野生动物疾病系统产生高度影响的理解，并将产生高质量的出版物。

This project will use a long-term study of badgers and bovine tuberculosis to understand the demography and epidemiology of the badger-bTB interaction using state-of-the-art statistical modelling. This project forms part of a major research programme, delivered by the University of Exeter in collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to understand the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of wildlife disease, with a focus on bovine tuberculosis. We have developed integrated statistical models of disease progression and transmission (McDonald, J. L., Bailey, T. , Delahay, R. J., McDonald, R. A., Smith, G. C., Hodgson, D. J. (2016), Demographic buffering and compensatory recruitment promotes the persistence of disease in a wildlife population. Ecol Lett, 19: 443-449), and now wish to extend these models to include information on population genetics, social and spatial structure, ageing and inbreeding. The project will yield high impact understanding of this important wildlife disease system, and will yield high quality publications.