Name of Faculty Sponsor
Meghan Burke
Faculty Sponsor Email
mburke@kennesaw.edu
Publication Date
Summer 8-29-2019
Abstract
Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a parasite infection that is spread by the bites of tsetse flies and it is almost 100% fatal if left untreated (World Health Organization, “Neglected”). Our hypothesis is that by adding domestic animals to areas where humans are found (villages and plantations), we can reduce the amount of biting on humans, and therefore reduce the rate at which humans become infected. Numerical simulations supported our hypothesis, showing that increasing the number of domestic animals (pigs in our model) slows down the spread of the disease in both humans and domestic animals.
