• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.278-285
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• 2016

Epidemiological studies have shown the association between transportation of live animals and the potential transmission of infectious disease between premises. This finding was also observed in the 2014-2015 foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Korea. Furthermore, slaughterhouses played a key role in the global spread of the FMD virus during the epidemic. In this context, in-depth knowledge of the structure of direct and indirect contact between slaughterhouses is paramount for understanding the dynamics of FMD transmission. But the social network structure of vehicle movements to slaughterhouses in Korea remains unclear. Hence, the aim of this study was to configure a social network topology of vehicle movements between slaughterhouses for a better understanding of how they are potentially connected, and to explore whether FMD outbreaks can be explained by the network properties constructed in the study. We created five monthly directed networks based on the frequency and chronology of on- and off-slaughterhouse vehicle movements. For the monthly network, a node represented a slaughterhouse, and an edge (or link) denoted vehicle movement between two slaughterhouses. Movement data were retrieved from the national Korean Animal Health Integrated System (KAHIS) database, which tracks the routes of individual vehicle movements using a global positioning system (GPS). Electronic registration of livestock movements has been a mandatory requirement since 2013 to ensure traceability of such movements. For each of the five studied networks, the network structures were characterized by small-world properties, with a short mean distance, a high clustering coefficient, and a short diameter. In addition, a strongly connected component was observed in each of the created networks, and this giant component included 94.4% to 100% of all network nodes. The characteristic hub-and-spoke type of structure was not identified. Such a structural vulnerability in the network suggests that once an infectious disease (such as FMD) is introduced in a random slaughterhouse within the cohesive component, it can spread to every other slaughterhouse in the component. From an epidemiological perspective, for disease management, empirically derived small-world networks could inform decision-makers on the higher potential for a large FMD epidemic within the livestock industry, and could provide insights into the rapid-transmission dynamics of the disease across long distances, despite a standstill of animal movements during the epidemic, given a single incursion of infection in any slaughterhouse in the country.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.4
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• pp.29-46
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• 2001

This research is based on the protection of the social safty with the preventive measures against Creutzfedt-jakob's and Mad cow Disease which has been drawn an attention of the public. It also has Known as an epidemic with rapid transmission an severe conteminaton to hurt the health through beef. In this work, some fruitful suggestions have been made to prevent and to minimize the harms Creutzfedt-jakob's and Mad Cow Disease : 1) We should Pay attention to the prior preventive measures by detecting the modes and the causes of the contemination lute route ; 2) there should be a step to inoculate the cattles to provide non-conteminated fresh feed for cows ; and 3) a health official should be alert to prevent the rapid transmission to the public by breaking the infected route of it.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.281-295
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• 2023

This study aims to establish and analyze a mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of male adolescent smoking and to determine an optimal control strategy to reduce male adolescent smoking. We consider three groups in the population: smokers, non-smokers, and temporary nonsmokers. In our model to which optimal control theory was applied, the number of smokers decreased sharply and the number of non-smokers increased significantly. Our simulation results under various control scenarios reveal that integrated control measures(such as prevention, education, and treatment) may be necessary to reduce the growth rate of adolescent smoking. Moreover, we concluded that efforts to encourage current smokers and temporary quitters to quit should be sustained longer than efforts to reduce the rate at which nonsmokers become smokers through smoking prevention education.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 1996

Given the global impact of the AIDS pandemic, it is necessary to take every measure to prevent an epidemic of this disease in Korea. The only available strategy is prevention. Considering college students as a potential risk group, this study examined their knowledge of, and attitudes toward AIDS. In this study, 399 students from three colleges in Pusan and Uoolsan were examined for their attitudes to, and knowledge of AIDS. Findings indicate that the majority of the students（90％） had basic knowledge on the transmission and the prevention of the disease. However, most of them, including nursing students, lacked knowledge as to the etiological agent, major symptoms and available diagnostic techniques. To the questions designed to examine social attitude towards AIDS patients, the students showed a tendency to view AIDS patients as responsible for their own illness. Interestingly, they showed sympathy to their imaginary friends and relatives suffering from AIDS. The study findings suggest a need for the development of AIDS educational programs for college students.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 2020

Despite the development of modern medical sciences, the outbreak and spread of infections continue to threaten populations, and the spread of infections among populations is caused by social contacts. There have only been a few studies on social contacts in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea). This study identified the types of social contacts in other countries through a systemic literature review and this helped provide basic data for Korea. Twelve studies were finally selected and then published from 2000 to December 2017. The most common study method was a retrospective contact diary (7cases, 58.3%), and random sampling (9cases, 75%). The number of contacts was 4.9-17.7/day, there were more frequent contacts during the weekdays than on weekends, and the most contacted people were those people that met daily. Physical contact was frequent at home. The highest frequency of contacts was between people 5-19 years old. In case of an epidemic, the spread of infection by this age group could be a concern. Assortative mixing was high in the 5-20 years old group, suggesting that this age group may be more likely to spread infection by contact within the same age group. Therefore, a national-wide survey on social contacts will be needed to predict the spread of infections, and to develop infection prevention based on a domestic basis in Korea.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.11.1-11.8
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• 2021

For the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), predictive modeling, in the literature, uses broadly susceptible exposed infected recoverd (SEIR)/SIR, agent-based, curve-fitting models. Governments and legislative bodies rely on insights from prediction models to suggest new policies and to assess the effectiveness of enforced policies. Therefore, access to accurate outbreak prediction models is essential to obtain insights into the likely spread and consequences of infectious diseases. The objective of this study is to predict the future COVID-19 situation of Korea. Here, we employed 5 models for this analysis; SEIR, local linear regression (LLR), negative binomial (NB) regression, segment Poisson, deep-learning based long short-term memory models (LSTM) and tree based gradient boosting machine (GBM). After prediction, model performance comparison was evelauated using relative mean squared errors (RMSE) for two sets of train (January 20, 2020-December 31, 2020 and January 20, 2020-January 31, 2021) and testing data (January 1, 2021-February 28, 2021 and February 1, 2021-February 28, 2021) . Except for segmented Poisson model, the other models predicted a decline in the daily confirmed cases in the country for the coming future. RMSE values' comparison showed that LLR, GBM, SEIR, NB, and LSTM respectively, performed well in the forecasting of the pandemic situation of the country. A good understanding of the epidemic dynamics would greatly enhance the control and prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Therefore, with increasing daily confirmed cases since this year, these results could help in the pandemic response by informing decisions about planning, resource allocation, and decision concerning social distancing policies.