Suppressing traffic-driven epidemic spreading in multiplex networks by effective traffic-flow assignment strategy

Abstract

Despite extensive research on the interplay between traffic dynamics and epidemic spreading, the control of epidemic spreading in multiplex networks by routing strategies has not received adequate attention. In this paper, we study the impact of effective traffic-flow assignment strategy on epidemic spreading in multiplex networks. Interestingly, epidemic spreading can be effectively controlled by tuning the routing assignment in a certain layer. In particular, by adjusting the routing parameters, the epidemic can be completely suppressed. Moreover, an increase in the average network connectivity of one layer of the multiplex networks can also suppress the outbreak of epidemic spreading. By both simulation and theoretical analysis, the epidemic suppression effect is confirmed on multiplex networks composed of Erdős–Rényi random and Scale-Free layers.