Lexicon of disease spread modelling terms.

Over the past decade there has been a notable increase in the magnitude and variety of modelling work in the realm of animal health. Similarly, there has been an increase in the extent to which modelling is used as a component in the development of animal health policy. The increased dependency on modelling creates a need to enhance understanding and linkages between policy-makers (those that pose the policy or scientific questions, commission modelling work and use model outputs in the development of policy), intermediaries (those that are responsible for working with modellers and communicating model results to policy-makers), and modellers. Development of a lexicon of disease spread modelling terms can help support clear communication and collaboration between all players.