In an effort to visually represent just how easily a disease can spread across the globe, researchers at Northeastern’s MoBS Lab looked to a mode of transportation that makes it relatively easy to get around: a subway system.
They created the Epidemic Rapid Transit Map, which uses a subway map to show how a hypothetical pandemic originating in Hanoi, Vietnam, can quickly spread to other major cities and remote areas alike. Once the disease reaches metropolises such as Paris, New York, and Hong Kong—which serve as transfer stations on the map—it can spread to other destinations like Dublin, Mexico City, and Denver.
“What we want to highlight here is that you cannot hide from the disease,” said Ana Pastore y Piontti, a postdoctoral research associate who worked on the project. “Wherever you are in the world basically, as long there is a connection to the rest of the world, you can always get the disease.”
The MoBS laboratory—directed by Alessandro Vespignani, the Sternberg Family Distinguished Professor of Physics, Computer Science, and Health Sciences—works to develop innovative mathematical models and computational tools to better understand, anticipate, and control large-scale complex networks and systems.
