Exploring the Impact and Prevention of Epidemics Based on Inter-Animal Transmission from an Environmental Perspective

• Published in: Buildings (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 9; p. 2974
• Main Authors: Liao, Yuxuan, Jia, Yonghong, Guo, Luyao, Cheng, Zhu, Jiang, Xingchi, Hu, Wenxin, Long, Enshen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Aerosols; Analysis; animal experimental laws; Animal experimentation; Communicable diseases; contact modes; Disease transmission; Environmental factors; Epidemics; Experimental methods; Experiments; Human acts; Human behavior; Humidity; Indoor environments; indoor infection; Infections; Infectious diseases; Influenza; Laboratory animals; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Outbreaks; Physiology; Probability; Public health; Research methodology; respiratory infectious disease dynamic model; Statistical analysis; Statistical models; Temperature; Time measurement; Ventilation; Viruses
• DOI: 10.3390/buildings14092974
• EISSN: 2075-5309

Respiratory infectious diseases are more likely to occur in indoor environments. Therefore, the probability of transmission when sharing the same indoor space with an infected individual for a certain period of time has an impact on the response measures to influenza outbreaks. The experimental methods for studying indoor transmission risks present significant operational challenges. Hence, to accurately predict the process of virus transmission in human living environments, it is crucial to use animal experiments in controlled environments. This study extensively reviews classical documents, taking into account exposure methods as well as environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, viral release intensity, and ventilation frequency. Based on the reference to animal experiments, the analogy law between the animal experiment environment and the human living environment is put forward. For human society, a dynamic respiratory infectious disease model that takes environmental factors into account is developed. The incidence probability of susceptible populations and the law of respiratory virus transmission at a certain time and space are explored. Ultimately, the statistical analysis revealed that temperature and susceptible people, followed by humidity and ventilation frequency, are the most sensitive factors influencing disease outbreak. In conclusion, this research provides a new reference model for predicting the spread of respiratory infectious diseases. It expands the application scope of animal experiments and offers guidance for setting environmental factors in animal virus transmission experiments, assessing the likelihood of infection in human living environments, guiding human behavior, and preparing for future virus outbreaks.