The biodiversity effect in regulating the prevalence of Sin Nombre virus (SNV)

Abstract

Sin Nombre virus (SNV), a virus that can cause fatal disease among humans, is primarily hosted by the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus . To better understand the biodiversity effect in curbing the prevalence of the SNV infection in the deer mouse population, we analyze the Peixoto & Abramson (2006) “one host, one non-host alien” deterministic model. In this study, we focus on the relationship of carrying capacity and interspecific competition strength of both host and non-host species in relation to the prevalence of the infection. Bifurcation analysis is carried out to examine the dynamics of this eco-epidemiological system. Our results show that the non-host species have a certain degree of influence in suppressing the SNV prevalence, given that the environmental conditions are similar and the interspecific competition strengths are relatively weak between the host and non-host species.