Inferring pathogen superspreading potential using early spatial spread patterns.

ABSTRACT: Superspreading driven by individual variation in transmissibility shapes novel pathogen emergence and the effectiveness of control measures. Current approaches to estimating superspreading typically rely on cluster size distributions informed by contact tracing or genomic data, limited by data availability and potential sampling bias. Here, we examined the impact of superspreading on the early spatial spread of novel pathogens using a branching process model incorporating inter-county mobility in the United States (US). To represent individual transmission heterogeneity, we modeled the number of secondary infections using a negative binomial distribution with a mean reproduction number R0 and a dispersion parameter r that quantifies superspreading potential. Simulations suggest that strong

SUBMITTER: Yao Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12636693 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature