Descriptive analysis of horse movement networks during the 2015 equestrian season in Ontario, Canada

Horses are a highly mobile population, with many travelling locally, nationally, and internationally to participate in shows and sporting events. However, the nature and extent of these movements, as well as the potential impact they may have on disease introduction and spread, is not well documente...

Celý popis

Uložené v:

Podrobná bibliografia
Vydané v:	PloS one Ročník 14; číslo 7; s. e0219771
Hlavní autori:	Spence, Kelsey L., O’Sullivan, Terri L., Poljak, Zvonimir, Greer, Amy L.
Médium:	Journal Article
Jazyk:	English
Vydavateľské údaje:	United States Public Library of Science 11.07.2019 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Predmet:	Animal locomotion Animal populations Animals Beef cattle Biology and Life Sciences Canada Computer and Information Sciences Disease transmission Farms Female Health aspects Health risks Horse Diseases - epidemiology Horse sports Horses Horses - physiology Humans Influenza Livestock Livestock - physiology Longitudinal Studies Male Methods Movement - physiology Networks Ontario Parks People and places Physiological aspects Population Questionnaires Records Research and Analysis Methods Seasons Social network analysis Social networks Social research Social Sciences Sports Surveys and Questionnaires Travel Travel patterns Veterinary colleges Veterinary medicine Ontario Canada Ontario Canada United Kingdom > UK Australia Guelph Ontario Canada
ISSN:	1932-6203, 1932-6203
On-line prístup:	Získať plný text
Tagy:	Pridať tag Žiadne tagy, Buďte prvý, kto otaguje tento záznam!

Popis
Shrnutí:	Horses are a highly mobile population, with many travelling locally, nationally, and internationally to participate in shows and sporting events. However, the nature and extent of these movements, as well as the potential impact they may have on disease introduction and spread, is not well documented. The objective of this study was to characterise the movement network of a sample of horses in Ontario, Canada, over a 7-month equestrian season. Horse owners (n = 141) documented their travel patterns with their horse(s) (n = 330) by completing monthly online questionnaires between May and November 2015. Directed networks were constructed to represent horse movements in 1-month time periods. A total of 1754 horse movements met the inclusion criteria for analysis. A variety of location types were included in each monthly network, with many including non-facilities such as parks, trails, and private farms. Only 34.3% of competitions attended by participants during the study period were regulated by an official equestrian organisation. Comparisons of the similarity between monthly networks indicated that participants did not travel to the same locations each month, and the most connected locations varied between consecutive months. While the findings should not be generalized to the wider horse population, they have provided greater insight into the nature and extent of observed horse movement patterns. The results support the need to better understand the variety of locations to which horses can travel in Ontario, as different types of locations may have different associated risks of disease introduction and spread.
Bibliografia:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23 Current address: Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health Group, Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0219771