Multi-host disease management: the why and the how to include wildlife

BMC Veterinary Research

Table 1 Simplified version of the decision making framework

Units	Feasibility	Cost	Efficiency	Action to be considered for management plan
Humans	Choose management goal for this unit: Prevention, Control, Eradication or Laissez-faire
Action 1	Availability?	Economical?	Efficient alone?	Yes or No?
	Possibility?	Social?	Efficient combined with other options?
	Capacity?	Environmental?	Inefficient?
… …	…	…	…	…
Action x	…	…	…	…
Captive animals	Choose a management goal for this unit: Prevention, Control, Eradication or Laissez-faire
Action 1	Availability?	Economical?	Efficient alone?	Yes or No?
	Possibility?	Social?	Efficient combined with other options?
	Capacity?	Environmental?	Inefficient?
... …	…	…	…	…
Action x	…	…	…	…
Environment	Choose a management goal for this unit: Prevention, Control, Eradication or Laissez-faire
Action 1	Availability?	Economical?	Efficient alone?	Yes or No?
	Possibility?	Social?	Efficient combined with other options?
	Capacity?	Environmental?	Inefficient?
......	…	…	…	…
Action x	…	…	…	…
Wildlife	Choose a management goal for this unit: Prevention, Control, Eradication or Laissez-faire
Action 1	Availability?	Economical?	Efficient alone?	Yes or No?
	Possibility?	Social?	Efficient combined with other options?
	Capacity?	Environmental?	Inefficient?
… ..	…	…	…	…
Action x	…	…	…	…

This simplified table illustrates how the process of choosing the relevant management actions should be followed. This table is a simplified version of one worksheet which corresponds to one type of disease transmission. For each relevant unit (humans, captive animals, environment and wildlife), each listed management action should be weighed against the following factors: feasibility, cost and efficiency for the pre-established management goal (eradication of the disease, control of the disease, prevention of the disease or laissez-faire). Following this process should leave the manager with a list of one or more management actions for each unit, which match the 3 criteria and should be considered for implementation