Innovative open source software for epidemiological modeling

Mechanistic modelling, used in epidemiology to understand, predict and control the spread of pathogens, requires a readable, revisable and rapid implementation of models, which is rarely achieved. Artificial intelligence methods have made it possible to develop the open source software EMULSION, which allows modelers to focus on their hypotheses by reducing the amount of computer code to be written. Models are described as a text file in a dedicated language before being processed by a generic simulation engine capable of representing various modeling paradigms at various scales. The flexibility offered by these methods paves the way for further research at the interface between AI and epidemiology and facilitates the use of these models to inform decision-making by animal health stakeholders.

Bibliography :

Picault S., Huang Y.-L., Sicard V., Arnoux S., Beaunée G., Ezanno P. 2019. EMULSION: transparent and flexible multiscale stochastic models in epidemiology. PLoS Computational Biology, 15(9):e1007342 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007342.