Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) impacts on farming, rural communities and wildlife conservation in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Despite protracted and expensive control programmes, recent years have seen a sharp increase in bTB cases in cattle in both countries. Control efforts comprise intensive testing and culling of cattle bTB cases and risk management of herds. As well as a large cost to the exchequer, farmers suffer substantial extra economic, animal welfare, sustainability and resilience costs due to loss of cattle and trade restrictions. These impacts, combined with the complex multi-species epidemiology of bTB, have resulted in robust debate about drivers of the recent increase and potential effectiveness of interventions to reduce transmission.
This PhD project will comprise adapting an existing within-herd M. bovis transmission and testing model for the Republic of Ireland, for the Northern Irish context. The student will develop a strong inter-disciplinary skillset, with training provided, as they will need to: (1) engage with research partners and stakeholders in the two countries to understand the bTB testing and control system; (2) conduct veterinary epidemiological analyses to generate inputs for the model; (3) adapt a dynamic M. bovis transmission model for Northern Ireland and (4) compare bTB epidemiology in the two countries.
Comparison of bTB epidemiology in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland provides an opportunity for new inferences, as, although the cattle test-and-cull systems are similar, there are country level differences in cattle management and wildlife interventions.
The project offers an opportunity to advance understanding of the epidemiology of a globally significant zoonotic pathogen, capitalising on large and detailed data, diverse expertise and a direct interface with control programme managers and policy makers.
The PhD project is based and supervised in University College Dublin and is part of a wider collaborative research programme with academic and government stakeholders in Ireland and the United Kingdom.