BioWar : a city-scale multi-agent network model of weaponized biological attacks

Abstract: "BioWar is scalable city-wide simulation, capable of simultaneously simulating the impact of background diseases, natural outbreaks and bioterrorism attacks on the population's behavior within a city. The multi-agent simulator includes social and institutional networks, weather and climate conditions, and the physical, economical, technological, communication, health, and governmental infrastructures which modulate disease outbreaks and individual behavior. Individual behaviors include health seeking, entertainment and work/school behavior. A wide variety of reports are generated based on user needs including absenteeism patterns, pharmaceutical purchases, doctor's office insurance claims reports, and hospital/emergency room reports. Sub-reports are available for specific sentinel groups including military personnel, first responders and health workers. Reports matching real world data streams and reports can be created for analyst or public health personnel including appropriate delays in generating said reports. This paper provides an overview of BioWar's current capabilities and information on the algorithms and data used to drive the simulation as of the Challenge 5 (C5) version."