Theory of the Spread of Epidemics and Movement Ecology of Animals

Powerful analytical tools from statistical physics, guided by field observations are applied to spread of epidemics and movement ecology.

Focusing on the Hantavirus epidemic, which has appeared throughout the world and is facilitated by the random movements of mice and other rodents, this book explains the spread of epidemics by exploiting powerful methodologies from physics and mathematics. Flocking and territoriality of animals are also investigated.Exploiting powerful techniques from physics and mathematics, this book studies animal movement in ecology, with a focus on epidemic spread. Pulmonary syndrome is not only feared in epidemics of recent times, such as COVID-19, but is also characteristic of epidemics studied earlier such as Hantavirus. The Hantavirus is one of the book's central topics. Correlations between epidemic outbreaks and precipitation events like El Niño are analyzed and spatial reservoirs of infection in off-period of the epidemic, known as refugia, are studied. Predicted traveling waves of infection are successfully compared to field observations. Territoriality in scent-marking animals is presented, with parallels drawn with the theory of melting. The flocking and herding of birds and mammals are described in terms of collective excitations. For scientists interested in movement ecology and epidemic spread, this book provides effective solutions to long-standing problems.