Analysis of stability and environmental decontamination strategy for a fractional-order Ebola model for bat population

Abstract

Bats are known reservoirs of the Ebola virus, making the control of the disease within bat population crucial for preventing human outbreaks. This study presents a fractional-order Ebola model to describe the dynamics of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in bat population, incorporating memory effects to provide a more accurate representation of disease spread compared to traditional integer-order models. We analyze the model’s global properties, including stability and equilibrium points, and propose a time-dependent environmental decontamination control strategy aimed at minimizing the number of infectious bats while reducing associated costs. Using numerical simulations with specialized methods for fractional-order systems, we validate the theoretical results and demonstrate the effectiveness of the control strategy. The findings highlight that the proposed control significantly reduces the number of infectious bats, underscoring environmental decontamination as a viable measure for EVD control in bat population.