The results of these models can be sensitive to underreporting initially in the epidemic. We see this clearly in Boonah, where it was acknowledged that there was underreporting early on and this led to us getting very high estimates for the initial reproductive number. Similarly, in Cumberland, if we remove the first five days of data (three cases on the first day, six cases on the second and then no cases the following three days) we get much more reasonable estimates (m~6:00,ŝ 2~1 0:32) with smaller residuals (6.00). Therefore, it is important to note that unusual observations in the first few days can impact the estimates and one should pay careful attention to this possibility.