Saving the Devils is in the details: Tasmanian Devil facial tumor disease can be eliminated with interventions

Drawert, B.; Matthew, S.; Powell, M.; Rumsey, B.

doi:10.1101/2022.04.03.486872

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.04.03.486872

Saving the Devils is in the details: Tasmanian Devil facial tumor disease can be eliminated with interventions

Drawert, B.·Matthew, S.·Powell, M.·Rumsey, B.

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Abstract

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWTasmanian Devils facial tumor disease is severely impacting the population of this wild animal. We developed a computational model of the population of Tasmanian Devils, and the change induced by DFTD. We use this model to test possible intervention strategies Tasmanian conservationists could do. We investigate bait drop vaccination programs, diseased animal removals programs, and evolution of natural immunity. We conclude that a combination of intervention strategies gives the most favorable outcome. An additional goal of this paper is for reproducibility of our results. Our StochSS software platform features the ability to share and reproduce the computational notebooks that created all of the results in the paper. We endeavor that all readers should be able to reproduce our results with minimum effort.

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Drawert, B., Matthew, S., Powell, M., Rumsey, B.. 2022-04-03. Saving the Devils is in the details: Tasmanian Devil facial tumor disease can be eliminated with interventions. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.03.486872

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