Disease Spread

In this Gizmo, you will be able to observe how various pathogens can spread through a group
of people.

When a person has a disease, his or her normal body functions are disrupted. Some disease,
such as diabetes and most cancers, are not spread from one person to another. But other
disease, such as the flu and strep throat, can be spread. These diseases are known as
infectious disease. Infectious diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria, and other agents
known as pathogens

Activity A Person to person transmission

Set-up
Under Active Diseases, turn off Foodborne and turn on Person to Person
Set the number of people to 5

1. Some pathogens are spread directly from one person to another. This can happen when
people come into direct contact or share items, such as drinking glasses. What do you think
might affect how quickly a pathogen is spread from person to person? (2 marks)

What might affect how quickly a pathogen spreads from person to person is by how
many people are being exposed to the pathogen and how easily the pathogen can be
transferred from one person to another.

2. Select the SIMULATION tab on the left and the TABLE tab on the right. (3 marks)

What does the purple person represent? an infected individual

Click Play and observe the simulation for a while. What must happen for the disease to
spread from one person to another?

How long did it take to infect five people? 7.7 hours

3. Click reset and change the number of people to 15. Click Play and in the table below
record how long it takes to infect five people. Repeat this four times for a total of 5 trials, and
calculate the mean time. Repeat the experiment when there are 25 people and 35 people in
the room. Also record your results in the table below. (6 marks)
 Number of
Time to infect five people, 5 trials Mean time
people
15 13.6 hrs 9.8 hrs
25 6.0 hrs 7.2 hrs
35 4.0 hrs 6.2 hours

4. Studying the data you collected, explain the trend do you see in the data. (2 marks)

The more people who are in the classroom means there an increase chance of them
getting infected in less time than when there are less people in the room where them
getting infected may take longer.

5. Not all pathogens are equally infectious. Click Reset and set the number of people to 20.
Under Probability of transmission, select Low for person to person.

On the Simulation tab, click Play. Record the time it takes to infect five people for five trials,
and find the mean. Then repeat the experiment with a medium and high probability of
transmission. (Note: For the “Medium” setting, move the slider half-way between the Low and
High positions.) (6 marks)

Transmission
Time to infect five people, 5 trials Mean time
probability
Low 47.5 hrs 56.8 hrs
Medium 18.1 hrs 9.8 hrs
High 8.1 hrs 4.6 hrs

6. Study the data you collected in the table above. Explain the trend you see in the data. (2
marks)

With the increased probability of transmission it didn't take long for the pathogen to
spread from person to person however with the probability low the time it took for the
pathogen to spread was much longer. Therefore, if the pathogens probability is
increased it take no time to spread the pathogen but if the other way around it takes a
while.

7. On the Controls tab, place the Probability of transmission slider under person to person
half-way between Low and High. Select the Simulation and Graph tabs. Click Play.

At what time did the disease spread the slowest? (1 mark)

In the very beginning when not many people had the diseases.

At what time did the disease spread the quickest? (1 mark)

Once people started getting the disease it spread quicker due to the increased amount
of people who are infected.
How could you explain this change in the rate of the disease’s spread? (1 marks)

The more people who are infected and not immune to the disease are more likely to
spread the disease and cause others to be infected by it quickly (spreads quicker).

8. An epidemic is the rapid spread of an infectious disease. Provide to ways a government

could try to prevent an epidemic of a dangerous person-to-person pathogen. (2 marks)

limit the amount of people in shopping stores and public places or go on a lockdown
with however long is needed.

Activity B: Foodborne and Airborne transmission

Set Up
Click Reset
On the Controls tab under Active diseases, turn off person to person
Turn on Foodborne

1. How do you expect the spread of a foodborne disease to be like the spread of a
person-to-person disease? (1 mark)

Foodborne and person to person diseases are only spread when an individual comes
in contact with that pathogen.

How do you expect the spread of a foodborne disease to be different from the spread of a
person-to-person disease? (1 mark)
I don't expect them to be too similar since foodborne diseases will take a longer time to
spread from person to person and Foodborne diseases are found/carried in foods
instead.
2. Select the Simulation tab. Click Play and closely watch the people moving around the
room.

What does each person do just before becoming infected? (1 mark)

They all go to the buffet table

How are foodborne pathogens transmitted? (1 mark)

by ingesting food that is contaminated by that pathogen (also includes drinks)

If a person in the simulation never eats or drinks anything from the buffet table, is it possible
for them to become sick with the foodborne disease? Explain your answer. (2 marks)

No, the individual must eat or drink something from the buffet table. That's the only
way the disease will spread.

3. Select the Graph tab and wait for every person to become infected.

At what time did the disease spread the slowest? (1 mark)

At the end

At what time did the disease spread the fastest? (1 mark)

in the beginning

How could you explain this change in the rate of the disease’s spread? (1 mark)

In the beginning more people visited the buffet tables which made the disease spread
quickly but as time passed not many people were left to visit the buffet table which
made the disease spread slower.

4. How does the spread of a foodborne pathogen compare to the spread of the
person-to-person pathogen you studied in activity A? (1 mark)

Foodborne disease spreads slower since you have to consume the pathogen to be
able to get affected meanwhile person to person pathogens spread faster due to them
having faster ways of travelling from person to person (airbourne)

5. How would you expect the spread of an airborne disease to be like the spread of a
foodborne disease? (1 mark)

The only similarity is you need to come in contact with the pathogen to be affected.
How would you expect the spread of an airborne disease to be different from the spread of a
foodborne disease and a person-to-person disease? (1 mark)

Airborne diseases are easier to be transmitted for example sneezing or just talking can
get an individual infected while foodbunre means you need to come in contact with the
pathogen in the food to be able to be infected.

6. Run a few simulations with the airborne pathogen.

What patterns do you notice in how the airborne pathogen spreads? (2 marks)

The airborne pathogen has no pattern and spreads rapidly. It seems to infect any and
everyone in the room.

How does the spread of an airborne pathogen compare to the spread of foodborne and
person-to-person pathogens? (1 mark)

Airborne diseases spread the fastest as you only need to be in the same room to be
affected in a short amount of time.

7. Suppose there is an infectious disease at a party. How could doctors tell if the disease was
foodborne, airborne, or transmitted person to person? (2 marks)

Airborne
- if a person becomes sick randomly the doctor may suspect it as an airborne
pathogen

Person to person
- doctors may ask about a person's whereabouts just to see if there has been an
outbreak in that area/gathering
- also might have other patients with similar symptoms from that area/gathering

Foodborne
- doctors may ask what the patient ate and if there has been a report of multiple
patients with the same food/drink consumption then the doctor will know it was
foodbotne.