Analysis of a model for waterborne diseases with Allee effect on bacteria

A limitation of current modeling studies in waterborne diseases (one of the leading causesof death worldwide) is that the intrinsic dynamics of the pathogens is poorly addressed, leadingto incomplete, and often, inadequate understanding of the pathogen evolution and its impact ondisease transmission and spread. To overcome these limitations, in this paper, we consider an ODEsmodel with bacterial growth inducing Allee effect. We adopt an adequate functional response tosignificantly express the shape of indirect transmission. The existence and stability of biologicallymeaningful equilibria is investigated through a detailed discussion of both backward and Hopfbifurcations. The sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number is performed. Numericalsimulations confirming the obtained results in two different scenarios are shown.