Rabies in raccoons: optimal control for a discrete time model on a spatial grid

Abstract

An epidemic model for rabies in raccoons is formulated with discrete time and spatial features. The goal is to analyze the strategies for optimal distribution of vaccine baits to minimize the spread of the disease and the cost of implementing the control. Discrete optimal control techniques are used to derive the optimality system, which is then solved numerically to illustrate various scenarios.

Keywords:

• Rabies in raccoons
• Discrete model
• Optimal control
• Vaccine

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Award ITR: 0427471 and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01 AI047498 to LAR. We thank Scott Duke-Sylvester for helpful discussions related to this work. We also thank Scotta Ward and Kendall Ivie for their preliminary work on this model.