title: Pattern transitions in spatial epidemics: Mechanisms and emergent properties.
abstract: Infectious diseases are a threat to human health and a hindrance to societal development. Consequently, the spread of diseases in both time and space has been widely studied, revealing the different types of spatial patterns. Transitions between patterns are an emergent property in spatial epidemics that can serve as a potential trend indicator of disease spread. Despite the usefulness of such an indicator, attempts to systematize the topic of pattern transitions have been few and far between. We present a mini-review on pattern transitions in spatial epidemics, describing the types of transitions and their underlying mechanisms. We show that pattern transitions relate to the complexity of spatial epidemics by, for example, being accompanied with phenomena such as coherence resonance and cyclic evolution. The results presented herein provide valuable insights into disease prevention and control, and may even be applicable outside epidemiology, including other branches of medical science, ecology, quantitative finance, and elsewhere.
authors: Complex Systems Research Center, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, PR China; School of Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: sunguiquan@sxu.edu.cn.
authors: Gui-Quan
authors: GQ
authors: Sun
authors: Department of Vector Ecology and Environment, Nagasaki University Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan; Center of Mathematics for Social Creativity, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan. Electronic address: mjusup@gmail.com.
authors: Marko
authors: M
authors: Jusup
authors: Complex Systems Research Center, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, PR China. Electronic address: jinzhn@263.net.
authors: Zhen
authors: Z
authors: Jin
authors: Department of Mathematics, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, PR China; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Victoria, Victoria BC V8W 3R4, Canada.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 816-8580, Japan. Electronic address: zhenwang0@gmail.com.
authors: Zhen
authors: Z
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D058872:Epidemics; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D055552:Infectious Disease Medicine / Q000379:methods; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D017955:Poliovirus; D012621:Seasons; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013997:Time Factors; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Cellular automata; Coherence resonance; Cyclic evolution; Reaction–diffusion equation; Seasonality and noise; Spatial heterogeneity