Dear Dr. Ferchiou,

Both reviewers found merit in your manuscript, and I concur. However, they have highlighted areas where changes are needed. Please read the reviewers' comments below and in the attached file and make revisions to the manuscript accordingly to address these concerns.

Please submit your revised manuscript by May 05 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org . When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Angel Abuelo, DVM, MRes, MSc, PhD, DABVP (Dairy), DECBHM

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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2. We note that there is identifying data in the Supporting Information file <BHS_diarrhea_bovine_resp_diseases-Sup_Mat_v2025-01-20.docx>. Due to the inclusion of these potentially identifying data, we have removed this file from your file inventory. Prior to sharing human research participant data, authors should consult with an ethics committee to ensure data are shared in accordance with participant consent and all applicable local laws.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: This manuscript attempts to measure the economics of vaccinating beef animals in France. The basic simulation model is fairly standard and appears to be done correctly. However, the authors oversell the economic benefits of vaccinating calves and cows by focusing on 1 economic measure, return on investment (ROI). Using this measure alone appears to make the vaccinating of these animals as "feasible" using ROI, but ROI is not the only measure farmers will use to make decisions. When broken down the different vaccination scenarios have marginal impacts on revenue and or cost, ranging from <1% to < 4% for revenue and from 2.5% to 4% increases in costs, leading to between 1 and 4% increases in net revenue. Thus, one must ask do these numbers make the proposed vaccination "really" profitable when one factors in time and labour for farmers to undertake the vaccination programs presented, particularly in the low risk scenarios.

A minor comment/question is Prod_revenue in equation 4, the same as Total_Revenue in equation 2? If not explain why? If so then it needs to be changed in either equation for consistnecy.

Reviewer #2: This is an interesting and insightful paper. While the paper is well-written. and comprehensive, there are key areas that the authors ought to consider to improve the robustness of their analysis and the theoretical contributions of the paper.

First, authors should highlight what differentiate the paper (esp. the model) from other research that looked at the same topic. By doing so, the research gap will be explicitly highlighted to show the theoretical contribution of the paper. Second, authors may have to consider differentiating the herd based on the health status - susceptible, infected, recovered, and vaccinated. Such segmentation will allow authors to highlight the morbidity (carcass value) losses, which is currently not captured in. the model.

Lastly, graphical representation of the results will provide more insights into the disease dynamics.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes:  Joshua Aboah

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-25-05016_reviewer JA.pdf

Dear Dr. Ferchiou,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Jul 12 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org . When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols .

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Angel Abuelo, DVM, MRes, MSc, PhD, DABVP (Dairy), DECBHM

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

Reviewer #1: The revisions to the manuscript are acceptable, however the format of tables needs a lot of work. Tables are required to stand alone without the reader having to refer to the text to understand the content therein. The authors use variable names that are incoherent without referring to the text, and many columns have no heading, thus the reader is left to try and work out what the numbers in the table are, whether they are monetary values or percentages. These need to be corrected before the manuscript is suitable for publication

Reviewer #2: The authors have adequately addressed the previously raised concerns. However, the manuscript lacks figures to confirm whether the graphical trends of certain results align with the reported findings. I recommend including appropriate figures to illustrate these trends for clarity and completeness.

Aside from this, I am satisfied with the current version of the manuscript.

**********

what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org

Economics of vaccination against diarrhoea and respiratory diseases in French cow calves’ systems: a modelling approach

PONE-D-25-05016R2

Dear Dr. Ferchiou,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Angel Abuelo, DVM, MRes, MSc, PhD, DABVP (Dairy), DECBHM

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: