Effects of travel frequency on the persistence of mosquito-borne diseases

Abstract

Travel frequency of people varies widely with occupation, age, gender, ethnicity, income, climate and other factors. Meanwhile, the distribution of the numbers of times people in different regions or with different travel behaviors bitten by mosquitoes may be nonuniform. To reflect these two heterogeneities, we develop a multipatch model to study the impact of travel frequency and human biting rate on the spatial spread of mosquito-borne diseases. The human population in each patch is divided into four classes: susceptible unfrequent, infectious unfrequent, susceptible frequent, and infectious frequent. The basic reproduction number R 0 is defined. It is shown that the diseasefree equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if R 0 ≤ 1, and there is a unique endemic equilibrium that is globally asymptotically stable if R 0 > 1. A more detailed study is conducted on the single patch model. We use analytical and numerical methods to demonstrate that the model without considering the difference of humans in travel frequency mostly underestimates the risk of infection. Numerical simulations suggest that the greater the difference in travel frequency, the larger the underestimate of the transmission potential. In addition, the basic reproduction number R 0 may decreasingly, or increasingly, or nonmonotonically vary when more people travel frequently.

Does International Travel Frequency Affect COVID-19 Biosecurity Behavior in the United States?

“…From a market segmentation perspective based on travel frequency, the levels of international travel frequency have various influences on biosecurity values, attitudes, personal norms, social norms, and behaviors in the USA. The findings are similar to the prior research on differences depending on levels of travel frequencies [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 33 , 34 ]. The biosecurity behaviors of high-frequency tourists are the least significant (R 2 = 0.443), and the biosecurity behaviors of low-frequency travelers are the most significant among the three groups (R 2 = 0.532), suggesting that individuals who travel less frequently are more likely to better practice COVID-19 biosecurity behaviors.…”

“…Growth in the frequency of overseas travel, including air tourism, has contributed to the spread of infectious diseases [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]. However, travel consumers’ behaviors are different depending on their levels of travel frequencies [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 33 , 34 ]. Moreover, travel frequency explains a variety of consumer travel behaviors [ 34 ].…”

“…Biosecurity can be defined as a range of specific intervention measures that have been put in place by national and regional governments along with pre-existing border biosecurity requirements for tourism and trade to restrict the spread of infectious diseases [ 1 ]. Reducing biosecurity risks is a significant issue for tourism given its role as a vector in biological invasion and transfer, suggesting appropriate travel guidelines [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Therefore, understanding what influences international tourist’s biosecurity behavior is valuable and timely, particularly in relation to the frequency of international travel by individuals, which may increase the risk of acquiring and transmitting infectious disease during outbreaks [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…Effective market segmentation improves the communication and efficacy of health advice [ 14 , 15 ], particularly in terms of COVID-19 biosecurity behavior [ 1 ]. Travel frequency is an important basis for health-related consumer segmentation, as it is closely related to the risk of greater exposure to infectious diseases, along with levels of perception of risk by travelers [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], suggesting the need for a better understanding tourists’ biosecurity practices [ 13 ].…”

Impact of mosquito-borne diseases on global public health

“…A recent article stated that "mosquito transmitted infections post a significant threat to public health worldwide". 3 The increase of the incidence of these diseases around the world is an important health issue that needs to be addressed.…”