title: Bluff your way in epidemic models.
abstract: The literature on the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases has grown enormously in recent years, both in quantity and quality. Here, we briefly point to the purposes of these modelling exercises and introduce the main ideas behind compartmental models, to act as a guide to the (bio)mathematical literature that is less directly accessible.
authors.affiliation: AgResearch, Wallaceville Animal Research Centre, Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heesterbeek
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008962:Models, Theoretical