Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
Published on: October 29, 2016
Percolation on heterogeneous networks as a model for epidemics
L M Sander1, C P Warren, I M Sokolov
1Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120, USA. lsander@umich.edu
Abstract:
We consider a spatial model related to bond percolation for the spread of a disease that includes variation in the susceptibility to infection. We work on a lattice with random bond strengths and show that with strong heterogeneity, i.e. a wide range of variation of susceptibility, patchiness in the spread of the epidemic is very likely, and the criterion for epidemic outbreak depends strongly on the heterogeneity. These results are qualitatively different from those of standard models in epidemiology, but correspond to real effects. We suggest that heterogeneity in the epidemic will affect the phylogenetic distance distribution of the disease-causing organisms. We also investigate small world lattices, and show that the effects mentioned above are even stronger.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Physiological Pharmacokinetic Models: Blood Flow-Limited Versus Diffusion-Limited Models
Model Approaches for Pharmacokinetic Data: Distributed Parameter Models
The distributed parameter models are specifically designed to account for variations and differences in some drug classes. This model is particularly useful for assessing regional concentrations of anticancer or...
Introduction to Epidemiology
Causality in Epidemiology
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Modeling with Differential Equations

