{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T06:03:47Z","timestamp":1771049027872,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]],"date-time":"2026-02-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770854400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010712","name":"Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010712","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000268","name":"BBSRC studentship","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BB\/M009122\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BB\/M009122\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000268","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Footrot is one of the top five globally important diseases of sheep and causes lameness, leading to poor welfare and productivity. Transmission of Dichelobacter nodosus, the causative agent, occurs via surfaces such as pasture or bedding and persistence occurs from diseased sheep shedding bacteria into the environment; D. nodosus cannot replicate off host. High resolution proximity sensors were deployed on a flock of Poll Dorset sheep for 10\u201317 days at several points of the production cycle (teasing, tupping, pregnancy, and lactation (&lt;6-week-old lambs)) between July 2018 and May 2021. Association indices between pairs of sheep were calculated, and outbreaks of footrot were simulated using a network-based susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered model. Two management approaches were modelled (1) where sheep were treated either not promptly, or effectively, resulting in long recovery times (28\u2013100 days) and (2) where sheep were treated and recovered within 15 days, assuming \u2018active management\u2019 of footrot by the farmer using \u2018best practice\u2019 of prompt recognition of lame sheep and parenteral and topical antibiotics. Under \u2018active management\u2019 conditions (scenario 2), outbreak sizes were smaller at all points of the production cycle. This adds to existing evidence that prompt, effective treatment of sheep at all stages of the production cycle is key to reducing the prevalence of footrot in the flock, including at breeding when sheep are more likely to be in close contact.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16040587","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]],"date-time":"2026-02-12T17:42:13Z","timestamp":1770918133000},"page":"587","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Social Structure of Sheep Flocks at Points of the Production Cycle and Relationship to Disease Spread, Using a Simulated Epidemic of Footrot"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8044-6402","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katharine Eleanor","family":"Lewis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK"},{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine & Science, University of Nottingham, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emily","family":"Price","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6869-5097","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Darren","family":"Croft","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3204-5866","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joss","family":"Langford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK"},{"name":"Activinsights Ltd., Cambridge PE28 0LF, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7371-3309","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Ozella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ciro","family":"Cattuto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ISI Foundation, 10123 Turin, TO, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Computer Science, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, TO, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4474-1340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rachel","family":"Clifton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine & Science, University of Nottingham, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Green","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1606","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2435.12645","article-title":"Heterogeneity in Pathogen Transmission: Mechanisms and Methodology","volume":"30","author":"VanderWaal","year":"2016","journal-title":"Funct. 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