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Title: Multiscale Model For Infection Dynamics During Air Travel
In this paper we develop a multiscale model combining social-force-based pedestrian movement with a population level stochastic infection transmission dynamics framework. The model is then applied to study the infection transmission within airplanes and the transmission of the Ebola virus through casual contacts. Drastic limitations on air-travel during epidemics, such as during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, carry considerable economic and human costs. We use the computational model to evaluate the effects of passenger movement within airplanes and air-travel policies on the geospatial spread of infectious diseases. We find that boarding policy by an airline is more critical for infection propagation compared to deplaning policy. Enplaning in two sections resulted in fewer infections than the currently followed strategy with multiple zones. In addition, we found that small commercial airplanes are better than larger ones at reducing the number of new infections in a flight. Aggregated results indicate that passenger movement strategies and airplane size predicted through these network models can have significant impact on an event like the 2014 Ebola epidemic. The methodology developed here is generic and can be readily modified to incorporate the impact from the outbreak of other directly transmitted infectious diseases.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1640824
NSF-PAR ID:
10079519
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Physical review. E
Volume:
95
Issue:
5
ISSN:
2470-0045
Page Range / eLocation ID:
2017
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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