Vector-borne diseases models with residence times - A Lagrangian perspective

A multi-patch and multi-group modeling framework describing the dynamics of a class of diseases driven by the interactions between vectors and hosts structured by groups is formulated. Hosts' dispersal is modeled in terms of patch-residence times with the nonlinear dynamics taking into account the effective patch-host size. The residence times basic reproduction number R0 is computed and shown to depend on the relative environmental risk of infection. The model is robust, that is, the disease free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable (GAS) if R0≤1 and a unique interior endemic equilibrium is shown to exist that is GAS whenever R0>1 whenever the configuration of host-vector interactions is irreducible. The effects of patchiness and groupness, a measure of host-vector heterogeneous structure, on the basic reproduction number R0, are explored. Numerical simulations are carried out to highlight the effects of residence times on disease prevalence.