ArticlePloS one2013
Sample size considerations for one-to-one animal transmission studies of the influenza A viruses.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Mathematical models used to inform study design or surveillance systems in infectious diseases: a systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2017Pooled it
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- Quantifying viral pandemic potential from experimental transmission studies.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Eleven quick tips to unlock the power of in vivo data science.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Machine learning approaches for influenza A virus risk assessment identifies predictive correlates using ferret model in vivo data.Communications biology · 2024Article
- A Protein Misfolding Shaking Amplification-based method for the spontaneous generation of hundreds of bona fide prions.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Optimal thresholds and key parameters for predicting influenza A virus transmission events in ferrets.Npj viruses · 2024Article
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- Robustness of the Ferret Model for Influenza Risk Assessment Studies: a Cross-Laboratory Exercise.mBio · 2022Article
- Ancestral sequence reconstruction pinpoints adaptations that enable avian influenza virus transmission in pigs.Nature microbiology · 2021Article
- Transmissibility and transmission of respiratory viruses.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2021Review
- Beyond clinical trials: Evolutionary and epidemiological considerations for development of a universal influenza vaccine.PLoS pathogens · 2020Review
- A novel framework for inferring parameters of transmission from viral sequence data.PLoS genetics · 2018Article
- Review
- Ferrets as Models for Influenza Virus Transmission Studies and Pandemic Risk Assessments.Emerging infectious diseases · 2018Article
- Defining the sizes of airborne particles that mediate influenza transmission in ferrets.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Article
- A Highly Pathogenic Avian H7N9 Influenza Virus Isolated from A Human Is Lethal in Some Ferrets Infected via Respiratory Droplets.Cell host & microbe · 2017Article
- Article
- Using the Ferret as an Animal Model for Investigating Influenza Antiviral Effectiveness.Frontiers in microbiology · 2016Review
- Article
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Abstract
backgroundAnimal transmission studies can provide important insights into host, viral and environmental factors affecting transmission of viruses including influenza A. The basic unit of analysis in typical animal transmission experiments is the presence or absence of transmission from an infectious animal to a susceptible animal. In studies comparing two groups (e.g. two host genetic variants, two virus strains, or two arrangements of animal cages), differences between groups are evaluated by comparing the proportion of pairs with successful transmission in each group. The present study aimed to discuss the significance and power to estimate transmissibility and identify differences in the transmissibility based on one-to-one trials. The analyses are illustrated on transmission studies of influenza A viruses in the ferret model. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsEmploying the stochastic general epidemic model, the basic reproduction number, R₀, is derived from the final state of an epidemic and is related to the probability of successful transmission during each one-to-one trial. In studies to estimate transmissibility, we show that 3 pairs of infectious/susceptible animals cannot demonstrate a significantly higher transmissibility than R₀= 1, even if infection occurs in all three pairs. In comparisons between two groups, at least 4 pairs of infectious/susceptible animals are required in each group to ensure high power to identify significant differences in transmissibility between the groups.
conclusionsThese results inform the appropriate sample sizes for animal transmission experiments, while relating the observed proportion of infected pairs to R₀, an interpretable epidemiological measure of transmissibility. In addition to the hypothesis testing results, the wide confidence intervals of R₀ with small sample sizes also imply that the objective demonstration of difference or similarity should rest on firmly calculated sample size.
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