The criticality of the Hantavirus infected phase at Zuni

Abstract

A preliminary analysis of the temporal evolution of a population of \emph{Peromyscus maniculatus} infected with Hantavirus Sin Nombre is made. Ecological and epidemiological parameters are derived from the data, and they are used as inputs for the analytical model presented in [Abramson and Kenkre, Phys. Rev. E \textbf{66}, 011912 (2002)]. A prediction of the critical carrying capacity and its associated critical mouse density is made, and the time series is analyzed under the light of these. It is found that the sporadic disappearances and reappearances of the infected phase correspond to the bifurcation predicted by the model.