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Figure 1 | Malaria Journal

Figure 1

From: Assessing the optimal virulence of malaria‐targeting mosquito pathogens: a mathematical study of engineered Metarhizium anisopliae

Figure 1

Model schematics. a. Simplified model. The fraction of infected humans in the population is given by h. Infection of susceptible mosquitoes S occurs at mass‐action rate β while removal/recovery occurs at a rate ρ. Infected mosquitoes I infect susceptible humans with probability γ, given an encounter. Malaria infection does not significantly alter the mosquito death rate μ, but fungus infection, occurring with rate α reflecting the intensity of fungal application, increases the death rate by σ. Since neither malaria nor the fungus is transmitted vertically in the simplified model all new‐born mosquitoes (indicated by κ) are susceptible. b. Life‐stage structured model. In this model mosquitoes produce larvae at rate κ c . Larvae may be fungal carriers (L F ) or fungus‐free (L S ) and undergo density‐dependent competition (see text) with intensity parameter κ L . Larvae mature to produce adult mosquitoes at rate m. The parameter ξ determines the degree of vertical transmissibility of the fungal pathogen.

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