A single infected person in a city. How many will fall ill? When does the wave peak? The SEIR model — Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, Removed — is the mathematical engine behind every public health response, from influenza to COVID-19.
The model divides population into four compartments connected by differential equations. The key parameter is R₀ (basic reproduction number): infections grow if R₀ > 1, die out if R₀ < 1. Herd immunity requires a fraction 1 − 1/R₀ of the population to be immune.
Adjust Transmission rate β, Recovery rate γ and Incubation period σ and watch the epidemic curve reshape. Try setting vaccine coverage to cross the herd immunity threshold. The live graph shows each compartment over time.
During the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, models with R₀ ≈ 1.5–2 predicted exponential growth. WHO interventions that cut β by 50 % were enough to suppress the epidemic. The difference between an R₀ of 1.1 and 0.9 is the difference between a pandemic and extinction.