There are reports from citizens and public service workers that there are tens of thousands of dead snakes seen along roadways in Florida in spring. They’ve obviously been hit by cars, but also, their heads look unusual. They have cloudy eyes, deteriorating and discolored face scales, and sores in their mouths. There are also many anecdotal reports from birders in Florida who say that they have seen many hawks, eagles, and owls eating snakes.
OUR SERVICES
Photo credit: saveoursnakes.org
Piper Mackay/Minden Pictures
Photo credit: David Green, USGS
It is suspected that this mass mortality event is somehow linked to an infectious disease. Since you’re a disease ecology expert, you have been contacted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service to be part of an emergency team of experts to evaluate what’s happening and control a possible outbreak. Your team is given a spending budget to solve this problem. You will have decision-making power to spend that money as you see fit, as long as your actions meet the needs of researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders. If you do not meet those needs, you’ll lose charisma points, and your team will be fired if your charisma reaches 0.
It is your first team meeting. In NetLogo, click “Advance 1 Week” three times, because it has taken three weeks to assemble this team and organize this meeting. Now that you are here, what do you do first?
Option 1: Do a road mortality survey across Florida.
Time Cost: 1 Week/Tick
Monetary Cost: $5000
Charisma Effect: Unknown
Option 2: Do a quick histological analysis in the lab to determine if a parasite, pathogen, or contaminant is causing the observed symptoms.
Time Cost: 1 Week/Tick
Monetary Cost: $5000
Charisma Effect: Unknown
Option 3: Send samples from symptomatic snakes to the U.S. Wildlife Health Center for genetic testing to see if a pathogen can be identified.
Time Cost: 1 Week/Tick
Monetary Cost: $5000
Charisma Effect: Unknown
Option 4: You’re pretty sure this is just a new outbreak of a previously known pathogen, so you skip further diagnostic testing and move on to disease control options.
Time Cost: 1 Week/Tick
Monetary Cost: $0
Charisma Effect: Unknown