A metapopulation model for sylvatic T. cruzi transmission with vector migration
Abstract
This study presents a metapopulation model for the sylvatic transmission
of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, across
multiple geographical regions and multiple overlapping host-vector transmission
cycles. Classical qualitative analysis of the model and several submodels
focuses on the parasite's basic reproductive number, illustrating how vector
migration across patches and multiple transmission routes to hosts (including
vertical transmission) determine the infection's persistence in each cycle. Numerical
results focus on trends in endemic [equilibrium] persistence levels as
functions of vector migration rates, and highlight the significance of the different
epidemiological characteristics of transmission in each of the three regions.