Last Updated on May 3, 2024
Relatively little is known about the economic impacts of JEV.
The total economic burden of JEV in Zhejiang Province, China 2013 – 2018 was calculated to be US$12.01 million dollars in direct (US$8.32 million) and in-direct (US$3.69 million) costs (Deng et. al., 2021). The estimated economic burden was based upon 149 confirmed JEV cases reported to the National Notifiable Disease Registry System (NNDRS) of China and case-based JE surveillance system (JESS) of China. Because JEV cases are globally underreported and JEV misdiagnosis is frequent, the authors used an expansion factor (EF) of 3 to estimate the actual number of JEV cases. The EF of 3 was used according to the Acute Meningitis and Encephalitis Syndrome Surveillance (AMES) 2006 – 2009 study that concluded JEV cases are under reported in China by 2 – 3 times (Deng et al., 2021).
Direct costs included medical expenses and non-medical expenses that were incurred to treat JEV infections (e.g. nutritional supplements, transportation to visit a physician, hiring a caregiver, etc.). Indirect costs included lost time working for patients and lost time working for their caregivers. The average cost per JEV case was US$26,871, and average costs were calculated to be higher for men (US$30,018) than women (US$21,435). The study also described JEV economic costs according to age, insurance coverage, location of residence (urban vs. rural), occupation, and whether a patient had been vaccinated for JEV.
This page will be updated as additional information is received about the economic impacts of JEV outbreaks in human populations.
Swine Related Economic Impacts
During the 2022 JEV genotype IV outbreak in Australia, roughly 60% of the commercial swine industry was impacted, and the economic cost was estimated to be US$250,000 per 1,000 sows (Dr. Kirsty Richards, SunPork Farms, Australia). The annual production loss on affected farms is estimated to be between 3% – 6%.
If JEV becomes established in the United States, the economic impact of an outbreak on the domestic swine herd is unknown. On March 6, 2024, SHIC published an economic assessment of a hypothetical JEV outbreak in the United States. Based upon similar production losses in Australia and the estimated number of commercial pigs in the United States that are housed in naturally ventilated barns vs. mechanically ventilated facilities, an outbreak will have an estimated impact of US$306 million to US$612 million.