A model for Bluetongue disease dynamics in cattle
Thursday, July 3, 2014 - 04:30
in Health & Medicine
In a paper recently published in the SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis, authors Stephen Gourley, Gergely Röst, and Horst Thieme model disease persistence of a virus called Bluetongue using a system of several delay differential equations. The disease affects sheep and cattle, and is spread by biting midges. In sheep, the bluetongue virus can cause abortion, congenital abnormalities and death, though mild cases completely recover. In cattle, bluetongue does not generally cause death.