Science AMA Series: I’m Gerardo Chowell. I study the transmission
dynamics of infectious diseases. Lately, I’ve been focused on Middle
East respiratory syndrome (MERS). AMA.
Abstract
Hi, Reddit, I am Gerardo Chowell, PhD, a professor of mathematical
epidemiology at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University.
I am currently researching the transmission dynamics of Middle East
respiratory syndrome, also known as MERS, and the factors that can make
an infectious disease outbreak more likely to spread. As many of you
know, South Korea recently suffered an outbreak of MERS that was the
largest to occur outside Saudi Arabia. The disease spread through
hospitals and killed 36 people, infected more than 180 and led to the
government imposing quarantines on nearly 17,000 people to get the
outbreak under control. I conducted similar research during the Ebola
outbreak in West Africa. *Thank you so much for your questions. I
enjoyed chatting with everybody! *