This paper presents an approach to infectious disease analysis through SystemDynamics methodology, following the early works of Ritchie-Dunham. The case studyconcerns the Bovine Leukosis Virus (BLV), that exclusively strikes cattle. The infectedanimals, exposed to secondary infections, become less productive bringing about aneconomic loss. In order to avoid the spread of the infection among dairy farms aneradication national plan is operative in Italy since 1996, but points of infection are stillbeing recorded. Hence deeper analyses are required to understand the causes of theendemic behavior of BLV. Analytical models of epidemic spread have been implementedsince the first decades of the XXth century, but, their practical use is often difficult.System Dynamics models allow epidemiologists to do a set of what-if analyses, with thepurpose of assessing the system’s behavior under various conditions, and afterwards, tocompare and evaluate the results of alternative sanitary policies.
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