Foot-and-mouth disease spread simulation using agent-based spatial model

Abstract

Epidemiological models on disease spread attempt to simulate disease transmission and associated control processes and such models contribute to greater understanding of disease spatial diffusion through of individuals contacts. The objective of this study is to develop an agent-based modeling(ABM) approach that integrates geographic information systems(GIS) to simulate the spread of FMD in spatial environment. This model considered three elements: population, time and space, and assumed that the disease would be transmitted between farms via vehicle along the roads. The model is implemented using FMD outbreak data in Andong city of South Korea in 2010 as a case study. In the model, FMD is described with the mathematical model of transmission probability, the distance of the two individuals, latent period, and other parameters. The results show that the GIS-agent based model designed for this study can be easily customized to study the spread dynamics of FMD by adjusting the disease parameters. In addition, the proposed model is used to measure the effectiveness of different control strategies to intervene the FMD spread.