A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR BIODIVERSITY DILUTING TRANSMISSION OF ZIKA VIRUS THROUGH COMPETITION MECHANICS

Abstract

Whether increasing biodiversity will lead to a promotion (amplification effect) or inhibition (dilution effect) in the transmission of infectious diseases remains to be discovered. In vector-borne infectious diseases, Lyme Disease (LD) and West Nile Virus (WNV) have become typical examples of the dilution effect of biodiversity. Thus, as a vector-borne disease, biodiversity may also play a positive role in the control of the Zika virus. We developed a Zika virus model affected by biodiversity through a competitive mechanism. Through the qualitative analysis of the model, the stability condition of the disease-free equilibrium point and the control threshold of the disease - the basic reproduction number is given. Not only has the numerical analysis verified the inference results, but also it has shown the regulatory effect of the competition mechanism on Zika virus transmission. As competition limits the size of the vector population, the number of final viral infections also decreases. Besides, we also find that under certain parameter conditions, the dilution effect may disappear because of the different initial values. Finally, we emphasized the impact of human activities on biological diversity, to indirectly dilute the abundance of diversity and make the virus continuously spread.