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Food and Agriculture System Transportation (FASTRANS) Model of Interstate Movement of Livestock (with the National Center for Food Protection and Defense)
Most epidemiologic models assume disease is spread by direct or indirect contact at local levels and they do not take into account the long distance movement of animals across the country that occurs in commerce. The DHS has provided special funding to the National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) and the FAZD Center to acquire the data and to build a national transportation model that will be input to multiple epidemiologic modeling efforts.
The initial effort will focus on beef, dairy, and swine, but we are planning follow on efforts for other commodities. This will provide for the first time a quantitative estimate of what is probably one of the most important factors in the spread of foreign animal or zoonotic disease through the interstate movement of large numbers of animals over long distances.