We analyze how spatial heterogeneity in host density affects the advance of vector-borne disease.
Infection requires vector infestation.
The vector spreads only between hosts occupying the same neighborhood, and the number of hosts varies randomly among neighborhoods. Simulation of a spatially detailed model shows that increasing heterogeneity in host abundance reduces pathogen prevalence. Clumping of hosts can also increase the chance that the pathogen and vector become physically separated during the initial phase of the epidemic process. The later limitation on the pathogen's spread, in our simulation, is restricted to small interaction neighborhoods. A mean-field model, which does not maintain spatial correlations between sites, approximates simulation results when hosts are arrayed uniformly, but overestimates infection prevalence when hosts are aggregated.