Zombie Epidemic -- on Modeling the Effect of Interventions

Kaisa Ek; Aleksi Avela; Willehard Haaki; Sami Helander; Ville Lumme; Terho Mutikainen; Jaakko Pere; Natalia Vesselinova; Lauri Viitasaari; Pauliina Ilmonen

arXiv · 2410.12502

Zombie Epidemic -- on Modeling the Effect of Interventions

Kaisa Ek·Aleksi Avela·Willehard Haaki·Sami Helander·Ville Lumme·Terho Mutikainen·Jaakko Pere·Natalia Vesselinova·Lauri Viitasaari·Pauliina Ilmonen

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Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need of studying extreme, life-threatening phenomena in advance. In this article, a zombie epidemic in Uusimaa region in Finland is modeled. A stochastic agent based simulation model is proposed and extensive simulations are conducted for this purpose. The model utilizes knowledge on defensive human behavior during crises. Studying the effects of a hypothetical zombie attack resembles examining the spread of deadly diseases and of rumors. A zombie attack is simulated in the most densely populated region in Finland. The region's exact population densities over its rasterized geographical map are utilized. Furthermore, the simulations are used to study the effect of implementing a (strict or partial) quarantine area in the epicenter. Computationally efficient Scala codes and video animations of the simulated epidemics are provided. The main findings emphasize the importance of implementing very strict measures, without delay, to stop the outbreak.

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Kaisa Ek, Aleksi Avela, Willehard Haaki, Sami Helander, Ville Lumme, Terho Mutikainen, Jaakko Pere, Natalia Vesselinova, Lauri Viitasaari, Pauliina Ilmonen. 2024-10-16. Zombie Epidemic -- on Modeling the Effect of Interventions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.12502

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