Epidemiology Lab
Epidemiology Simulation: Model Disease Spread
This epidemiology simulation uses compartmental disease models to show how an infectious disease moves through a population, dividing individuals into Susceptible, Infected, and Recovered (SIR) categories. Students can manipulate transmission rate, recovery rate, and vaccination coverage to see how public health interventions flatten or prevent epidemic curves. It grounds abstract epidemiological concepts in quantitative dynamics that are directly relevant to understanding real outbreaks.
What you can do in this simulation
- Set transmission rate (β) and recovery rate (γ) to compute the basic reproduction number R₀
- Run the SIR model and watch the epidemic curve rise and fall over time
- Introduce vaccination to raise the immune fraction and observe herd immunity thresholds
- Add interventions like quarantine or contact tracing and measure their effect on outbreak size
- Compare exponential early growth versus the slowdown as the susceptible pool shrinks
Concepts covered
SIR model · basic reproduction number R₀ · herd immunity · disease transmission · epidemic curve · public health
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