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| Mycobacterium marinum (Mm), a genetically similar bacterium to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, affects a number of fish industries (fisheries, aquaculture, aquariums and research stocks) on a comparable scale to tuberculosis (TB) in humans. Because of this, and the practical advantages of working with animal models as opposed to humans, Mm infections in recently established fish models provide a unique opportunity for the study of mycobacterial infections. We derive a structured model for the transmission dynamics of Mm in fish. The model consists of a system of nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations coupled with three nonlinear ordinary differential equations. First order and second order fi nite-diff erence schemes to approximate the solutions of this model are developed and convergence results are established. These numerical methods are used to conduct preliminary studies on the long-term behavior of the model. |
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