Theory of possible effects of the Allee phenomenon on refugia of the Hantavirus epidemic

TL;DR

This paper explores how high order nonlinearities and Allee effects influence the spatial patterns of Hantavirus refugia, revealing new bifurcation phenomena and stability characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces generalized equations incorporating Allee effects into Hantavirus spread models, extending previous Fisher-like models and analyzing their steady states and stability.

Findings

Identification of new bifurcation phenomena due to environmental modulation.

Comparison showing differences in stability between Allee-effect models and Fisher-like models.

Insights into how nonlinearities affect infection refugia shapes.

Abstract

We investigate possible effects of high order nonlinearities on the shapes of infection refugia of the Hantavirus epidemic. We replace Fisher-like equations that have been recently used to describe Hantavirus spread in mouse populations by generalizations capable of describing Allee effects that are a consequence of the high order nonlinearities. We analyze the equations to calculate steady state solutions. We study the stability of those solutions under physical conditions and compare to the earlier Fisher-like case. We consider spatial modulation of the environment and find that unexpected results appear, including a bifurcation that has not been studied before.