Knowledge about the spread of a disease plays an important role in both preparing for and responding to a pandemic outbreak. Previous models for such analyses are mostly homogenous and make use of simplistic assumptions about transmission and the infection rates. These models assume that each individual in the population is identical and typically has the same number of potential contacts with an infected individual in the same time period. Also each infected individual is assumed to have the same probability to transmit the disease. Using these models, implementing any mitigation strategies to vaccinate the susceptible individuals and treating the infected individuals become extremely difficult under limited resources. In order to effectively choose and implement a mitigation strategy, modeling of the disease spread has to be done across the specific set of individuals, which enables researchers to prioritize the selection of individuals to be treated first and also gauge the effectiveness of mitigation strategy.

Questions for Discussion
1. What are the characteristics of an agent-based simulation model?
2. List the various factors that were fed into the agentbased simulation model described in the case.
3. Elaborate on the benefits of using agent-based simulation models.
4. Besides disease prevention, in which other situations could agent-based simulation be employed?