Models for control of epidemics on local, global and small-world networks are
considered, with only partial information accessible about the status of
individuals and their connections. The main goal of an effective control
measure is to stop the epidemic at a lowest possible cost, including treatment
and cost necessary to track the disease spread. We show that delay in detection
of infectious individuals and presence of long-range links are the most
important factors determining the cost. However, the details of long-range
links are usually the least-known element of the social interactions due to
their occasional character and potentially short life-span. We show that under
some conditions on the probability of disease spread, it is advisable to
attempt to track those links. Thus, collecting some additional knowledge about
the network structure might be beneficial to ensure a successful and
cost-effective control.Comment: To be published in Acta Phys. Pol.
