Speaker: Jessica Kingsley (UTK)

Title: Modeling the Spread of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever accounting for Tick Co-feeding

Abstract: Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne illness that affects animals and humans in countries across Africa and Asia. Ticks transmit this disease to susceptible animals by feeding on them and can acquire the disease by feeding on an infected host. Ticks feed on different hosts at different stages in their life cycle- larvae and nymphs feed on small mammals and birds, while adults feed on large mammals. Another aspect of the spread of CCHF is tick co-feeding. Co-feeding occurs when ticks feed on the same susceptible host within close proximity. If one tick is infected and the other is susceptible, the susceptible tick can become infected during co-feeding while the host remains susceptible. In this talk, I will present an ODE compartment model of the spread of CCHF that accounts for the life cycle of ticks and co-feeding. Preliminary equilibria and R₀ results will be included as well. This work is a collaboration with MASAMU Advanced Studies Institute, an NSF funded research collaboration program with students and faculty in southern Africa.