Animal diseases: their epidemiology and control
by
Mick Roberts
AgResearch, Wallaceville Animal Research Centre

A study of the epidemiology and control of diseases of wild or farmed animals gives rise to a variety of interesting mathematical problems. These include the definition of threshold quantities for dynamical systems, stability analyses of systems with multiple steady states, and back-calculation methods to estimate ``hidden quantities'' from observations. This talk will survey some of the general theory and methodologies, and will illustrate them by discussing the questions:

• ``Should we shoot the bison in Yellowstone National Park?'';
• ``Can we use parasites to control possums in New Zealand, and would it be better to import new parasites from Australia or modify our own?'';

• ``Is it safe to eat British beef?''.

Date received: April 13, 1998

Copyright © 1998 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cabd-04.