Rabies outbreak in Greece during 2012-2014: use of Geographical Information System for analysis, risk assessment and control.

The objectives of this work were (i) geographical analysis of the 2012-2014 outbreak of rabies in Greece using GIS and (ii) comparative analysis of animal cases with data of potential human exposure to rabies together with environmental data, in order to provide information for risk assessment, effective monitoring and control. Most animal cases (40/48) involved red foxes, while domestic animals were also diagnosed with rabies. Overall, 80% of the cases were diagnosed in central northern Greece; 75% of the cases were diagnosed in low altitudes (<343·5 m), within a distance of 1 km from human settlements. Median distance from livestock farms was 201·25 m. Most people potentially exposed to rabies (889/1060) presented with dog bite injuries. Maximum entropy analysis revealed that distance from farms contributed the highest percentage in defining environmental niche profiles for rabid foxes. Oral vaccination programmes were implemented in 24 administrative units of the country during 2013 and 2014, covering a total surface area of ~60 000 km2. Rabies re-occurrence in Greece emphasizes the need for ongoing surveillance in cross-border areas and in areas with intense human activity.

The status of tularemia in Europe in a one-health context: a review.

The bacterium Francisella tularensis causes the vector-borne zoonotic disease tularemia, and may infect a wide range of hosts including invertebrates, mammals and birds. Transmission to humans occurs through contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, or through arthropod vectors. Tularemia has a broad geographical distribution, and there is evidence which suggests local emergence or re-emergence of this disease in Europe. This review was developed to provide an update on the geographical distribution of F. tularensis in humans, wildlife, domestic animals and vector species, to identify potential public health hazards, and to characterize the epidemiology of tularemia in Europe. Information was collated on cases in humans, domestic animals and wildlife, and on reports of detection of the bacterium in arthropod vectors, from 38 European countries for the period 1992-2012. Multiple international databases on human and animal health were consulted, as well as published reports in the literature. Tularemia is a disease of complex epidemiology that is challenging to understand and therefore to control. Many aspects of this disease remain poorly understood. Better understanding is needed of the epidemiological role of animal hosts, potential vectors, mechanisms of maintenance in the different ecosystems, and routes of transmission of the disease.

Temporal and spatial variation in Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in Swedish moose (Alces alces).

SUMMARY: The occurrence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum was investigated in spleen and serum samples from Swedish moose (Alces alces) in southern Sweden (island and mainland). Samples were analysed for presence of A. phagocytophilum DNA by real-time PCR (n = 263), and for Anaplasma antibodies with ELISA serology (n = 234). All serum samples had antibodies against A. phagocytophilum. The mean DNA-based prevalence was 26·3%, and significant (P < 0·01) temporal, and spatial variation was found. Island moose had significantly (P < 0·001) higher prevalence of A. phagocytophilum DNA than moose from the mainland areas. Two samples were sequenced to determine genetic variation in the 16S rRNA and groESL genes. Genetic sequence similarity with the human granulocytic anaplasmosis agent, equine granulocytic ehrlichiosis agent, and different wildlife-associated A. phagocytophilum variants were observed in the 16S rRNA and groESL genes. Our study shows that moose are exposed to A. phagocytophilum in Sweden, and represent a potential wildlife reservoir of the pathogen.

The feeding of heather (Calluna vulgaris) to Teladorsagia circumcincta infected lambs reduces parasitism but can detrimentally impact performance.

Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections impact small ruminant health, welfare, and production across farming systems. Rising anthelmintic resistance and regulation of synthetic drug use in organic farming is driving research and development of sustainable alternatives for GIN control. One alternative is the feeding of plants that contain secondary metabolites (PSMs) e.g., proanthocyanidins (PA, syn. condensed tannins) that have shown anthelmintic potential. However, PSMs can potentially impair performance, arising from reduced palatability and thus intake, digestibility or even toxicity effects. In this study, we tested the trade-off between the antiparasitic and anti-nutritional effects of heather consumption by lambs. The impact of additional feeding of a nematophagous fungus (Duddingtonia flagrans) on larval development was also explored. Lambs infected with Teladorsagia circumcincta or uninfected controls, were offered ad libitum heather, or a control chopped hay for 22 days during the infection patent period. Eight days into the patent period, parasitised lambs were supplemented (or remained unsupplemented) with D. flagrans for a 5-day period. Performance and infection metrics were recorded, and polyphenol levels in the heather and control hay were measured to investigate their association with activity. The lambs consumed heather at approximately 20% of their dry matter intake, which was sufficient to exhibit significant anthelmintic effects via a reduction in total egg output (P = 0.007), compared to hay-fed lambs; the magnitude of the reduction over time in heather fed lambs was almost 10-fold compared to control lambs. Negative effects on production were shown, as heather-fed lambs weighed 6% less than hay-fed lambs (P < 0.001), even though dry matter intake (DMI) of heather increased over time. D. flagrans supplementation lowered larval recovery in the faeces of infected lambs by 31.8% (P = 0.003), although no interactions between feeding heather and D. flagrans were observed (P = 0.337). There was no significant correlation between PA, or other polyphenol subgroups in the diet and egg output, which suggests that any association between heather feeding and anthelmintic effect is not simply and directly attributable to the measured polyphenols. The level of heather intake in this study showed no antagonistic effects on D. flagrans, demonstrating the methods can be used in combination, but provide no additive effect on overall anthelmintic efficacies. In conclusion, heather feeding can assist to reduce egg outputs in infected sheep, but at 20% of DMI negative effects on lamb performance can be expected which may outweigh any antiparasitic benefits.

Modelling the impact of vaccination on tuberculosis in badgers.

Tuberculosis (TB) in livestock, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, persists in many countries. In Britain, efforts to control TB through the culling of badgers (Meles meles), the principal wildlife host, have so far been unsuccessful, and there is significant interest in vaccination of badgers as an alternative or complementary strategy [corrected]. Using a simulation model, we show that where TB is self-contained within the badger population and there are no external sources of infection, limited-duration vaccination at a high level of efficacy can reduce or even eradicate TB from the badger population. However, where sources of external infection persist, benefits in TB reduction in badgers can only be achieved by ongoing, annual vaccination. Vaccination is likely to be most effective as part of an integrated disease management strategy incorporating a number of different approaches across the entire host community.

Ubiquitous parasites drive a 33% increase in methane yield from livestock.

Of anthropogenic methane emissions, 40% can be attributed to agriculture, the majority of which are from enteric fermentation in livestock. With international commitments to tackle drivers of climate change, there is a need to lower global methane emissions from livestock production. Gastrointestinal helminths (parasitic worms) are globally ubiquitous and represent one of the most pervasive challenges to the health and productivity of grazing livestock. These parasites influence a number of factors affecting methane emissions including feed efficiency, nutrient use, and production traits. However, their effects on methane emissions are unknown. This is to our knowledge the first study that empirically demonstrates disease-driven increases in methane (CH4) yield in livestock (grams of CH4 per kg of dry matter intake). We do this by measuring methane emissions (in respiration chambers), dry matter intake, and production parameters for parasitised and parasite-free lambs. This study shows that parasite infections in lambs can lead to a 33% increase in methane yield (g CH4/kg DMI). This knowledge will facilitate more accurate calculations of the true environmental costs of parasitism in livestock, and reveals the potential benefits of mitigating emission through controlling parasite burdens.

Genetically resistant sheep avoid parasites to a greater extent than do susceptible sheep.

Livestock breeding programmes have created resistant (R) and susceptible (S) sheep that differ in their ability to control parasites through their immune function but potentially also their grazing behaviour (i.e. parasite avoidance). Using the Perendale genetic lines, we tested the hypothesis that R-sheep avoid parasites more effectively, reducing their parasite exposure/challenge, compared with S-sheep. However, in grazing systems, parasite-rich areas are also forage rich, suggesting that parasite avoidance behaviours are associated with nutritional penalties. We first created a naturally heterogeneous sward structure of gaps and tussocks and then used focal behavioural observations to quantify the sward selection of R- and S-sheep. Tussock swards were more nitrogen rich (41%), offered increased forage intake rates (32%) and contained 17 times more parasite larvae than gap swards. All the animals avoided grazing the tussock swards. However, the R-sheep grazed the tussock swards to a lesser degree than the S-sheep. We conclude that selection for genetic resistance has resulted in animals that, despite being well armed to fight parasitism through improved immune function, adopt parasite avoidance strategies with associated nutritional disadvantages. This experiment highlights the role of host behaviour in the control of parasitism and suggests that animals can be bred to avoid disease.

Wild deer as a source of infection for livestock and humans in the UK.

Wild deer can feature in the epidemiology of a wide range of livestock and human diseases in the United Kingdom by representing a source of disease via various transmission routes. This review highlights current and possible future infections of deer in the UK which may have an impact on livestock and/or human health. Increases in deer abundance as well as range expansion are likely to exacerbate the potential for disease persistence due to the formation of multi-species deer assemblages, which may act as disease reservoirs. Climatic changes are likely to have a direct impact on the presence and abundance of various pathogens and their vectors, so that with a warming climate exotic diseases may play a role in future UK livestock and wildlife disease management. This paper highlights the need for a monitoring strategy for wildlife diseases, in particular infections in wild deer, in the UK.

Animal health and greenhouse gas intensity: the paradox of periparturient parasitism.

Here we provide the first known direct measurements of pathogen challenge impacts on greenhouse gas production, yield and intensity. Twin-rearing ewes were ad libitum fed pelleted lucerne from day -32 to 36 (day 0 is parturition), and repeatedly infected with 10,000 Teladorsagia circumcincta infective larvae (n=16), or sham-dosed with water (n=16). A third group of 16 ewes were fed at 80% of uninfected ewes' feed intake during lactation. Methane emissions were measured in respiration chambers (day 30-36) whilst total tract apparent nutrient digestibility around day 28 informed calculated manure methane and nitrous oxide emissions estimates. Periparturient parasitism reduced feed intake (-9%) and litter weight gain (-7%) and doubled maternal body weight loss. Parasitism reduced daily enteric methane production by 10%, did not affect the methane yield per unit of dry matter intake but increased the yield per unit of digestible organic matter intake by 14%. Parasitism did not affect the daily calculated manure methane and nitrous oxide production, but increased the manure methane and nitrous oxide yields per unit of dry matter intake by 16% and 4%, respectively, and per unit of digestible organic matter intake by 46% and 31%, respectively. Accounting for increased lucerne input for delayed weaning and maternal body weight loss compensation, parasitism increased the calculated greenhouse gas intensity per kg of lamb weight gain for enteric methane (+11%), manure methane (+32%) and nitrous oxide (+30%). Supplemented with the global warming potential associated with production of pelleted lucerne, we demonstrated that parasitism increased calculated global warming potential per kg of lamb weight gain by 16%, which was similar to the measured impact of parasitism on the feed conversion ratio. Thus, arising from a pathogen-induced feed efficiency reduction and modified greenhouse gas emissions, we demonstrated that ovine periparturient parasitism increases greenhouse gas intensity. This implies that ewe worm control can not only improve production efficiency but also reduce the environmental footprint of sheep production systems.

Genome wide transcriptomic analysis identifies pathways affected by the infusion of Clostridium perfringens culture supernatant in the duodenum of broilers in situ.

Clostridium perfringens type A is the main etiological factor for necrotic enteritis, a multifactorial enteric disease that penalizes performance, health, and welfare of poultry. Lack of knowledge of host responses and disease pathogenesis is slowing down progress on developing therapies for disease control. A combined genomewide and targeted gene approach was used to investigate pathways and biological functions affected by the infusion of C. perfringens culture supernatant in the duodenum of broilers in 2 experiments. An in situ isolated loop of duodenum was prepared in anesthetized broilers of 3 wk of age (Exp. 1) and was infused either with crude C. perfringens culture supernatant (n = 7; treated), positive for necrotic enteritis B-like toxin (NetB) as determined by a cytotoxicity assay, or with a control preparation (n = 6; control). Birds were maintained alive for 1 h and then euthanized for tissue recovery. The use of the Affymetrix chicken genome array on RNA samples from loop tissue showed top biological functions affected by culture supernatant infusion included cell morphology, immune cell trafficking, and cell death; pathways affected included death receptor signaling, inflammatory response, and nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling. In a second in situ study (Exp. 2), broilers were maintained alive for 4 h to monitor temporal expression patterns of targeted genes. Duodenal tissue was removed at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h post-infusion with culture supernatant (n = 9) or a control preparation (n = 5) for histology and gene expression analysis. Genes encoding proinflammatory cytokines, such as interferon γ (IFNγ), cell trafficking, such as neuroblastoma 1 (NBL1) and B cell CLL/Lymphoma 6 (BCL6), and cell death, such as Fas cell surface death receptor (FAS) and GTPase IMAP family member 8 (GIMAP8), were differentially expressed in the duodenum of treated and control broilers (P < 0.05). We have demonstrated that C. perfringens culture supernatant (NetB positive) infusion resulted in histological and gene expression changes consistent with necrotic enteritis in the duodenum of broilers. In the absence of live bacteria, crude culture supernatant resulted in early immunomodulation, inflammation, and cell death in the duodenum. The pathways identified here can be targeted for the development of new drugs, vaccines, and novel therapies for necrotic enteritis in broilers.

The herbivores' dilemma: trade-offs between nutrition and parasitism in foraging decisions.

An experiment was carried out using a trade-off framework to determine the rules of sward selection, in relation to gastrointestinal parasite dispersion, used by mammalian herbivores, and the effect of level of feeding motivation and parasitic status on these rules. Twenty-four sheep divided into four animal treatment groups resulting from two levels of feeding motivation (high and moderate) and two parasitic states (parasitised with Ostertagia circumcincta and non-parasitised) were presented with pairs of experimental swards which varied in N content (high and low), sward height (tall and short) and level of contamination with faeces and thus parasites (contaminated and non-contaminated). The selection for tall swards outweighed both the selection for N-rich swards and the avoidance of faecal contaminated swards. The selection for N-rich swards could not completely overcome faecal avoidance. Parasitism in animals with a moderate feeding motivation reduced their bite rates and grazing depths, thereby probably reducing the rate of ingestion of parasitic larvae. In contrast, highly feeding-motivated animals (including those parasitised) increased their bite rates and grazing depths, thereby increasing the rate of ingestion of parasites. The inclusion of parasite distributions, both in the environment and within herbivore host populations, is likely to advance optimal foraging theory by enhancing its predictive power.

Natural paratuberculosis infection in rabbits in Scotland.

Natural paratuberculosis infection of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was recently diagnosed in Scotland, and an investigation into the pathology of the disease in wild rabbits is reported in this paper. Evidence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M.a. paratuberculosis) infection was detected in 22% of 110 rabbits; the organism was cultured from 17 of 110 rabbits, and histopathological lesions consistent with M.a. paratuberculosis infection were noted in 18 of 98 rabbits examined. No macroscopical lesions suggestive of M.a. paratuberculosis infection were observed. The histopathological lesions were either severe or mild. Severe lesions consisted of extensive macrophage granulomata and numerous giant cells, with many intracellular acid-fast bacteria in the small intestine. For the examination of formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded tissues, neither immunohistochemistry nor the polymerase chain reaction was as sensitive a method of diagnosis as histopathology.

The response of cattle and sheep to feed contaminated with rodent faeces.

On farms where rats and mice are present, unprotected livestock feed may become contaminated with rodent faeces, thereby creating a possible source of infection for cattle and sheep. Livestock unable to avoid contaminated feed may choose to eat it entirely, reject it completely or attempt to reject faeces selectively while consuming some of the feed. Two experiments were conducted to investigate which of these three responses were demonstrated by livestock. Ten cattle and ten sheep were presented individually with three repeats of ten feed treatments. Treatments were based on two feed types (meal and pelleted compound), with three levels of contamination (none, 'low' and 'high'), from one of two rodent species (rat and mouse). Avoidance behaviour was greater for feed contaminated with rat faeces compared to feed contaminated with mouse faeces. At low levels of rat contamination there was evidence that livestock actively rejected faeces whilst consuming feed. At higher levels of contamination animals rejected faeces and feed. Livestock could not actively discriminate against mouse faeces and thus rejection of feed was used to avoid faeces ingestion. Despite rejection of contaminated feed and some discrimination against faeces, significant numbers of rodent faeces were ingested illustrating that livestock feeding behaviour cannot prevent ingestion of rodent faeces. Feed contaminated with rodent faeces therefore poses a significant risk of disease infection to livestock.

Effects of farm management practices on cattle grazing behaviour and the potential for transmission of bovine tuberculosis from badgers to cattle.

Despite the large body of circumstantial evidence to suggest a link, the means by which bovine tuberculosis is passed from badgers to cattle remains unclear; pasture contamination with the urine, faeces and/or sputum of infectious badgers is believed to be the main route of transmission. Therefore the behaviour of grazing cattle was studied to determine whether they avoided investigating and/or grazing pasture contaminated with badger excreta, and whether different farm management practices enhanced the potential for disease transmission. Active latrines were avoided by most cattle until the sward length in the rest of the field was reduced, after which there was an increasing likelihood that active badger latrines would be grazed. Most of the cattle grazed active badger latrines, but cattle of low rank within the herd grazed latrines more heavily. Farm management practices that reduced the availability of long swards shortened the period of investigative behaviour and greatly enhanced the risk that cattle would graze active badger latrines. Cattle were more likely to graze pasture away from latrines that was contaminated either with badger urine or single faeces. Because bacilli remain viable in the soil for up to 2 years, there is the potential for bacilli to accumulate at active badger latrines, and these could pose a significant risk to cattle, even when the latrine is no longer being used by badgers. Cattle readily grazed the lush sward at disused latrines, during which they could ingest contaminated soil; the amount of soil ingested increases as sward length decreases.

The grazing response of cattle to pasture contaminated with rabbit faeces and the implications for the transmission of paratuberculosis.

Transmission of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, the organism responsible for paratuberculosis (or Johne's disease) in ruminants, occurs through the faecal-oral route. As M. a. paratuberculosis has been isolated from rabbit faeces, cattle grazing rabbit faecal contaminated pasture may thus be at risk.A herd of 57 beef cattle was monitored on a farm in Perthshire, throughout the 1999 'grazing year', to investigate whether the cattle avoided rabbit faecal contaminated pasture and thus the potential for disease transmission. Grazing was measured every two days over eight rotations by sward heights on 40 marked treatment plots (0.5 m x 0.5 m) to which 0, 10, 50 and 250 rabbit faecal pellets were added. Cattle were also monitored by an active transponder system which enabled individual animals contacting two plots per field rotation (one control and one contaminated) to be recorded. During the monitored grazing year, grazing pressure was low with a net mean sward offtake of 18% of sward height per rotation. There were no significant differences between rabbit faecal treatments (0, 10, 50 and 250 pellets) with respect to the height or proportion of sward removed, or between the numbers of contacts made by cattle on contaminated and uncontaminated plots. Over 90% of all the cattle contacted contaminated plots, indicating that the potential for disease transmission was widespread among the herd. To our knowledge, this is the first reported instance of a lack of avoidance by grazing cattle towards swards contaminated with faeces, and implies that the potential for transmission of paratuberculosis from rabbit contaminated pasture is high.

Fox predation as a cause of lamb mortality on hill farms.

Data collected between 1993 and 1996 from two Scottish hill farms were used to assess the potential importance of predation by foxes as a cause of lamb mortality. Farm 1 was in Midlothian and farm 2 in West Perthshire. Overall lamb mortality rates from birth onwards were 10.2 per cent for farm 1 and 9.3 per cent for farm 2. Sixteen lambs were identified as killed by foxes on the two farms during the four-year period. The minimum rates of fox predation were 0.6 per cent for farm 1 and 0.2 per cent for farm 2. All confirmed cases of fox predation were recorded during the period until the lambs were marked at about six weeks of age, and during this period another 53 lambs went missing from the two farms. Both groups of missing lambs were characterised by having significantly more siblings than the remaining lambs. A logistic regression model was able to classify the lambs killed by foxes and the missing lambs with 75 per cent accuracy on the basis of their birth rank alone. Of the total potential revenue from lamb production, the maximum losses due to confirmed fox predation in any one year were equivalent to 1.5 per cent on farm 1 and 0.6 per cent on farm 2.

Risk factors for Johne's disease in Scotland--the results of a survey of farmers.

The reported incidence of Johne's disease has been increasing in the east of Scotland since 1993. A postal questionnaire survey was sent to 127 farms to identify potential risk factors for Johne's disease in relation to wildlife and farm management practices, and 86 returns were obtained. Of 22 farms which had been assumed to be free of the disease, on the basis of information held by local veterinary centres, seven (32 per cent) reported cases of Johne's disease in the 1990s, indicating that the disease is under-reported. Logistic regression analyses showed that eight of 63 potentially explanatory variables were significant at the 5 per cent level in affecting the likelihood of farms reporting Johne's disease. Of these, large numbers of livestock and rabbits, and access of wildlife to feed stores were the clearest and most consistent risk factors associated with the disease. The application of manure to grazing pasture, the type of water supply for the cattle and the numbers of crows were also related to the presence of Johne's disease but the nature of these relationships was less clear. Only 38 per cent of the farms reported taking any control measures to combat Johne's disease, but three of the control measures were relevant to risk factors identified as significant by the survey, namely maintaining a clean water supply, controlling rabbits and not spreading manure on to grazing pasture.

High prevalence of paratuberculosis in rabbits is associated with difficulties in controlling the disease in cattle.

There is increasing evidence that the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a wildlife reservoir for paratuberculosis and infected populations may contribute to the persistence of infection in livestock. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that farms with difficulties controlling paratuberculosis in their cattle herds have a higher prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in their rabbit populations. A total of 281 rabbits from 13 beef farms in the East of Scotland were randomly sampled in early spring 2007. Participating farms were in paratuberculosis control programmes under the Premium Cattle Health Scheme (PCHS), and were classified as 'responder' (paratuberculosis under control) or 'low responder' (a persistent number of paratuberculosis-positive cattle despite control measures in place) farms. Of the rabbits sampled, 23.8% tested positive for MAP, with those on 'low responder' farms having a greater probability of being infected (0.4) relative to rabbits on 'responder' farms (0.1). The association suggests that MAP-infected rabbits may contribute to the persistence of paratuberculosis in domestic livestock and undermine control strategies that focus on livestock alone. This study provides the first evidence of an association between the persistence of paratuberculosis in livestock despite the implementation of disease control strategies, and MAP-infected sympatric wild rabbit populations.

Implications of host genetic variation on the risk and prevalence of infectious diseases transmitted through the environment.

Previous studies have shown that host genetic heterogeneity in the response to infectious challenge can affect the emergence risk and the severity of diseases transmitted through direct contact between individuals. However, there is substantial uncertainty about the degree and direction of influence owing to different definitions of genetic variation, most of which are not in line with the current understanding of the genetic architecture of disease traits. Also, the relevance of previous results for diseases transmitted through environmental sources is unclear. In this article a compartmental genetic-epidemiological model was developed to quantify the impact of host genetic diversity on epidemiological characteristics of diseases transmitted through a contaminated environment. The model was parameterized for footrot in sheep. Genetic variation was defined through continuous distributions with varying shape and degree of dispersion for different disease traits. The model predicts a strong impact of genetic heterogeneity on the disease risk and its progression and severity, as well as on observable host phenotypes, when dispersion in key epidemiological parameters is high. The impact of host variation depends on the disease trait for which variation occurs and on environmental conditions affecting pathogen survival. In particular, compared to homogeneous populations with the same average susceptibility, disease risk and severity are substantially higher in populations containing a large proportion of highly susceptible individuals, and the differences are strongest when environmental contamination is low. The implications of our results for the recording and analysis of disease data and for predicting response to selection are discussed.

Use of host population reduction to control wildlife infection: rabbits and paratuberculosis.

Reduction in wildlife populations is a common method for the control of livestock infections which have wildlife hosts, but its success is dependent on the characteristics of the infection itself, as well as on the spatial and social structure of the wildlife host. Paratuberculosis (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis; Map) is a widespread and difficult infection to control in livestock populations and also has possible links to Crohn's disease in humans. Rabbits have recently been identified as a key wildlife species in terms of paratuberculosis persistence in the environment and risk to the wider host community, including cattle. Here we use a spatially explicit stochastic simulation model of Map dynamics in rabbit populations to quantify the effects of rabbit population control on infection persistence. The model parameters were estimated from empirical studies of rabbit population dynamics and rabbit-to-rabbit routes of Map transmission. Three rabbit control strategies were compared: single unrepeated population reductions based on removing individual animals; single unrepeated population reductions based on removal of entire social groups; and repeated annual population reductions based on removing individual animals. Unrealistically high rabbit culls (>95% population reduction) are needed if infection is to be eradicated from local rabbit populations with a single one-off population reduction event, either of individuals or social groups. Repeated annual culls are more effective at reducing the prevalence of infection in rabbit populations and eradicating infection. However, annual population reductions of >40% are required over extended periods of time (many years). Thus, using an approach which is both highly conservative and parsimonious with respect to estimating lower bounds on the time to eradicate the infection, we find that Map is extremely persistent in rabbit populations and requires significant and prolonged effort to achieve control.