Yes, there are several different meanings of the word 'for'. It is a very useful little word. I think that in this example it probably was used to indicate that the model was equivalent to there being a person with TB coughing in the wards. So it means 'as if' there was a person with TB. But other closely related uses of 'for' is to indicate suitability (for example "The large bed was perfect for a tall person.") and to replace one thing with another (for example "The football manager substituted a defender for an attacker."). So, I expect people might argue that 'for' could be read to mean 'equivalent/suitable/replacing'.

Yes that’s correct, the pathogens are modelled FOR someone :)