Modeling the impact of short-term displacement of domestic animals on the transmission dynamics of brucellosis

Brucellosis, a prevalent zoonotic disease caused by bacteria from the genus <i>Brucella</i>, presents a substantial public health and economic challenges worldwide. In this paper, we formulate a two-patch deterministic model to investigate the impact of short-term displacement of domestic animals on the transmission dynamics of brucellosis within and between patches with heterogeneous risk of infection. The model analysis is performed, and the basic reproduction number <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>R</mml:mi></mml:mrow> <mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math> is computed and used in the stability analysis of equilibria. A global sensitivity analysis is performed using Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) approach to check the impact of model parameters over a period of time. Numerical simulation results indicate that the increase in time spent by domestic animals in high-risk areas, such as communal grazing areas or wildlife interfaces, significantly increases the spread of infections. This underscores the importance of considering short-term animal movements to communal grazing areas and water points in brucellosis management strategies. It equips policymakers and stakeholders with actionable insights to combat the burden of the disease.