Modeling the burden of poultry disease on the rural poor in Madagascar

• We describe a new framework that couples models of infectious disease ecology and economics.
• Using this framework, we estimate the burden of poultry disease on rural households in Madagascar.
• We find that monthly household income is reduced by 10–25% in the majority of model simulations.
• Feedbacks between human and poultry productivity amplify the economic impact of poultry disease.

Livestock represent a fundamental economic and nutritional resource for many households in the developing world; however, a high burden of infectious disease limits their production potential. Here we present an ecological framework for estimating the burden of poultry disease based on coupled models of infectious disease and economics. The framework is novel, as it values humans and livestock as co-contributors to household wellbeing, incorporating feedbacks between poultry production and human capital in disease burden estimates. We parameterize this coupled ecological–economic model with household-level data to provide an estimate of the overall burden of poultry disease for the Ifanadiana District in Madagascar, where over 72% of households rely on poultry for economic and food security. Our models indicate that households may lose 10–25% of their monthly income under current disease conditions. Results suggest that advancements in poultry health may serve to support income generation through improvements in both human and animal health.