The fluid dynamics of respiratory disease transmission

Following the infiltration of a pathogen into a population of susceptible hosts, the nature of the contact between infected and non-infected members of the population becomes critical in  shaping the outcome of the epidemic.  This is true whether one considers a human, animal, or plant population.  Despite major efforts aimed at the mathematical modelling and mitigation of infectious diseases, the fundamental mechanisms of contact for most infectious diseases remain poorly understood. Elucidating such contact mechanism will inform mathematical descriptions of infectious disease epidemiology.  I present here the results of a recent study in which a combined theoretical and experimental approach sheds light on the dynamics of contact and transmission of respiratory diseases.