Elsevier

Current Opinion in Insect Science

Volume 10, August 2015, Pages 118-123
Current Opinion in Insect Science

From puddles to planet: modeling approaches to vector-borne diseases at varying resolution and scale

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2015.05.002Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • New mathematical model frameworks for malaria and dengue add details beyond the original Ross–Macdonald theory.

  • Recent models include a more detailed vector life cycle including aquatic stages, multiple vector species, vector feeding behavior, heterogeneous biting, or spatial heterogeneity.

  • Advances in mathematical analyses of vector-borne disease range from mechanistic dynamics of larval puddle habitat to distributions of vector species across the planet.

  • Multiple recently published frameworks implement spatially explicit transmission dynamics, with movement of hosts and vectors across a heterogeneous landscape.

Since the original Ross–Macdonald formulations of vector-borne disease transmission, there has been a broad proliferation of mathematical models of vector-borne disease, but many of these models retain most to all of the simplifying assumptions of the original formulations. Recently, there has been a new expansion of mathematical frameworks that contain explicit representations of the vector life cycle including aquatic stages, multiple vector species, host heterogeneity in biting rate, realistic vector feeding behavior, and spatial heterogeneity. In particular, there are now multiple frameworks for spatially explicit dynamics with movements of vector, host, or both. These frameworks are flexible and powerful, but require additional data to take advantage of these features. For a given question posed, utilizing a range of models with varying complexity and assumptions can provide a deeper understanding of the answers derived from models.

Cited by (0)