In this paper, the main biological aspects of infectious diseases and their mathematical translation for modeling their transmission dynamics are revised. In particular, some heterogeneity factors which could influence the fitting of the model to reality are pointed out. Mathematical tools and methods needed to qualitatively analyze deterministic continuous-time models, formulated by ordinary differential equations, are also introduced, while its discrete-time counterparts are properly referenced. In addition, some simulation techniques to validate a mathematical model and to estimate the model parameters are shown. Finally, we present some control strategies usually considered to prevent epidemic outbreaks and their implementation in the model.