Global threshold dynamics of a stochastic epidemic model incorporating media coverage

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the global threshold dynamics of a stochastic SIS epidemic model incorporating media coverage. We give the basic reproduction number R0s and establish a global threshold theorem by Feller’s test: if R0s≤1, the disease will die out a.s.; if R0s>1, the disease will persist a.s. In the case of R0s>1, we prove the existence, uniqueness, and global asymptotic stability of the invariant density of the Fokker–Planck equations associated with the stochastic model. Via numerical simulations, we find that the average extinction time decreases with the increase of noise intensity σ, and also find that the increasing σ will be beneficial to control the disease spread. Thus, in order to control the spread of the disease, we must increase the intensity of noise σ.