Investigating Epidemic Diseases Characterized by Vertical Transmission and Contract: Cellular Automata Computational Model1

A computationally and theoretically new model based on cellular automata is developed to generate descriptive emulation of epidemic disease processes, a particularly prevailing phenomenon in developing countries that may cause dramatic events. The feature phenomena of vertical transmission and contract of epidemic diseases are accounted for. Thus the proposed model captures the essence of the epidemic dynamics as demonstrated by the simulation experiments. The proposed model can serve as a background basis for developing more sophisticated models and algorithms to simulate scenario of real-world epidemics based on recorded data. Copyright © 2010 IFAC