title: Modeling the overdispersion of parasite loads.
abstract: Many epidemic models lead to an approximately Poisson distribution of parasites among hosts. This is at variance with observation, where heavy overdispersion is the rule. A simple model is proposed that, while treating individuals alike, nonetheless gives rise to highly variable parasite loads.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Mathematik, Universität Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Barbour
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kafetzaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D016012:Poisson Distribution