Bacteria–bacteriophage cycles facilitate Cholera outbreak cycles: an indirect Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Bacteria- Phage (iSIRBP) model-based mathematical study

Abstract

Cholera is an acute enteric infectious disease caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Despite a huge body of research, the precise nature of its transmission dynamics has yet to be fully elucidated. Mathematical models can be useful to better understand how an infectious agent can spread and be properly controlled. We develop a compartmental model describing a human population, a bacterial population as well as a phage population. We show that there might be eight equilibrium points, one of which is a disease free equilibrium point. We carry out numerical simulations and sensitivity analyses and we show that the presence of phage can reduce the number of infectious individuals. Moreover, we discuss the main implications in terms of public health management and control strategies.

Keywords:

• Cholera
• bacteriophage
• phage
• basic reproduction number

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

J.D.K. acknowledges support from Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (Grant No. 109559-001). The main idea of this paper came from a conversation JDK had with Hao Wang and Edwin Pos.