A Flexible Automata Model for Disease Simulation

This paper presents an approach for capturing the behaviour of disease spread in a tractable model. More specifically, by embedding spatial population information into the cells of a cellular automaton, accurate representations of disease spread may be produced. Non-homogeneity is easily introduced into the implicitly discretized landscape of a cellular automaton, contributing to the accuracy of such models and overcoming some of the simplifying assumptions of homogeneity found in earlier models. The need to develop and test more effective disease containment measures inspires the search for new and more accurate models.