A Bayesian approach to quantifying the effects of mass poultry vaccination upon the spatial and temporal dynamics of H5N1 in Northern Vietnam

Outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry in Vietnam continue to threaten the livelihoods of those reliant on poultry production whilst simultaneously posing a severe public health risk given the high mortality associated with human infection. Authorities have invested significant resources in order to control these outbreaks. Of particular interest is the decision, following a second wave of outbreaks, to move from a “stamping out” approach to the implementation of a nationwide mass vaccination campaign. Outbreaks which occurred around this shift in policy provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the relative effectiveness of these approaches and to help other countries make informed judgements when developing control strategies. Here we use Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) data augmentation techniques to derive the first quantitative estimates of the impact of the vaccination campaign on the spread of outbreaks of H5N1 in northern Vietnam. We find a substantial decrease in the transmissibility of infection between communes following vaccination. This was coupled with a significant increase in the time from infection to detection of the outbreak. Using a cladistic approach we estimated that, according to the posterior mean effect of pruning the reconstructed epidemic tree, two thirds of the outbreaks in 2007 could be attributed to this decrease in the rate of reporting. The net impact of these two effects was a less intense but longer-lasting wave and, whilst not sufficient to prevent the sustained spread of outbreaks, an overall reduction in the likelihood of the transmission of infection between communes. These findings highlight the need for more effectively targeted surveillance in order to help ensure that the effective coverage achieved by mass vaccination is converted into a reduction in the likelihood of outbreaks occurring which is sufficient to control the spread of H5N1 in Vietnam.
Author Summary Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 continues to spread rapidly between flocks of poultry in many parts of the world including areas in Southeast Asia and Africa where infection has become endemic. Meanwhile the number of human cases and fatalities are steadily accumulating. As a result, the control of outbreaks in poultry remains both a key public and animal health priority. In Vietnam control policies have evolved from a policy of reliance upon drastic “stamping out” measures to regular mass vaccination campaigns. Using Bayesian data augmentation techniques in order to take into account the unobserved infection times, we found that this has led to a significant reduction in the daily probability of transmission between communes but that the time taken to detect outbreaks has increased. As a result it is still possible for sustained transmission to occur, albeit at a slower rate. Through an analysis of the reconstructed epidemic tree, we found that any measures that have the effect of restoring detection capacity to that estimated for the “stamping out” policy would have a large effect upon the size and scale of any future outbreak wave and may be effective at preventing sustained transmission between communes.