Epidemics spreading in predator–prey systems

Abstract

In this paper, we consider an ecosystem in which two disease-affected populations thrive and in which the epidemics can spread from one species to the other one by contact. The feasibility and stability conditions of the equilibria of the system are investigated analytically. The model does not possess Hopf bifurcations. Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the role of the main epidemiological and demographic parameters in the model, thus discovering that the predation of healthy or diseased predators on an infected prey allows some kind of control of the prey, if the latter, for instance, represents a pest.

Keywords:

• ecoepidemics
• predator–prey
• diseases
• overcoming species barrier
• dynamical systems

2010 AMS Subject Classifications :

• 92D25
• 92D30
• 92D40

Acknowledgements

We thank our biologist colleague Francesca Bona for providing reference 5 and for useful discussions. S. Chaudhuri was supported by ‘MIUR Bando per borse a favore di giovani ricercatori indiani’ during his visit to the University of Torino.