Utility of R0 as a predictor of disease invasion in structured populations
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: External Repository
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
Early theoretical work on disease invasion typically assumed large and well-mixed host populations. Many human and wildlife systems, however, have small groups with limited movement among groups. In these situations, the basic reproductive number, R0, is likely to be a poor predictor of a disease pandemic because it typically does not account for group structure and movement of individuals among groups. We extend recent work by combining the movement of hosts, transmission within groups, recovery from infection and the recruitment of new susceptibles into a stochastic model of disease in a host metapopulation. We focus on how recruitment of susceptibles affects disease invasion and how population structure can affect the frequency of superspreading events (SSEs). We show that the frequency of SSEs may decrease with the reduced movement and the group sizes due to the limited number of susceptible individuals available. Classification tree analysis of the model results illustrates the hierarchical nature of disease invasion in host metapopulations. First, the pathogen must effectively transmit within a group (R0>1), and then the pathogen must persist within a group long enough to allow for movement among the groups. Therefore, the factors affecting disease persistence—such as infectious period, group size and recruitment of new susceptibles—are as important as the local transmission rates in predicting the spread of pathogens across a metapopulation.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Utility of R0 as a predictor of disease invasion in structured populations |
| Series title | Journal of the Royal Society Interface |
| DOI | 10.1098/rsif.2006.0185 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 13 |
| Year Published | 2007 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | The Royal Society |
| Contributing office(s) | Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center |
| Description | 10 p. |
| First page | 315 |
| Last page | 324 |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |