{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T16:28:37Z","timestamp":1776356917778,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776297600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Slaughterhouse detection of lesions compatible with bovine tuberculosis represents a key passive surveillance component in Santa Catarina, Brazil, yet subsequent trace-back investigations often fail to identify infected farms. This study developed a quantitative framework to prioritize epidemiological investigations by estimating the probability of infection associated with each farm connected to PCR-confirmed cases. Using official movement records and historical diagnostic data, we reconstructed the lifetime contact networks of slaughtered cattle presenting confirmed Mycobacterium bovis lesions (n = 502). For each sentinel animal\u2013farm interaction (n = 1452), infection probability was estimated through a non-homogeneous Poisson process incorporating exposure duration and the time-weighted average herd size as determinants of infectious pressure. After evaluating stochastic variability through Monte Carlo simulation, a deterministic model using the mean infectious-pressure parameter was applied to classify farms into high-, medium-, and low-risk categories. Model performance was assessed using validated field diagnostic outcomes within a three-year temporal window. High-risk farms represented most validated contacts (58%) and demonstrated a relative risk of 3.48 compared with lower-risk category. These findings indicate that a standardized risk-based classification can substantially improve the prioritization of trace-back investigations, offering a practical decision-support tool to enhance bovine tuberculosis surveillance and contribute to eradication strategies in Santa Catarina.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16081224","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T15:14:12Z","timestamp":1776352452000},"page":"1224","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Improving Bovine Tuberculosis Surveillance Through Risk-Based Prioritization of Slaughterhouse-Triggered Trace-Back Investigations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7486-4528","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luiz Felipe Crispim","family":"Louren\u00e7o","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Companhia de Desenvolvimento Agr\u00edcola de Santa Catarina (CIDASC), Florian\u00f3polis 88034-001, SC, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9222-3479","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo Evandro","family":"Mendes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (AVDL), Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.36519\/idcm.2026.789","article-title":"Zoonotic Tuberculosis: Emerging Species, Diagnostic Approaches, and One Health Implications","volume":"8","author":"Maity","year":"2026","journal-title":"Infect. 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