Potential Parasite Transmission in Multi-Host Networks Based on Parasite Sharing
نویسندگان
چکیده
Epidemiological networks are commonly used to explore dynamics of parasite transmission among individuals in a population of a given host species. However, many parasites infect multiple host species, and thus multi-host networks may offer a better framework for investigating parasite dynamics. We investigated the factors that influence parasite sharing--and thus potential transmission pathways--among rodent hosts in Southeast Asia. We focused on differences between networks of a single host species and networks that involve multiple host species. In host-parasite networks, modularity (the extent to which the network is divided into subgroups of rodents that interact with similar parasites) was higher in the multi-species than in the single-species networks. This suggests that phylogeny affects patterns of parasite sharing, which was confirmed in analyses showing that it predicted affiliation of individuals to modules. We then constructed "potential transmission networks" based on the host-parasite networks, in which edges depict the similarity between a pair of individuals in the parasites they share. The centrality of individuals in these networks differed between multi- and single-species networks, with species identity and individual characteristics influencing their position in the networks. Simulations further revealed that parasite dynamics differed between multi- and single-species networks. We conclude that multi-host networks based on parasite sharing can provide new insights into the potential for transmission among hosts in an ecological community. In addition, the factors that determine the nature of parasite sharing (i.e. structure of the host-parasite network) may impact transmission patterns.
منابع مشابه
Uncertain links in host–parasite networks: lessons for parasite transmission in a multi-host system
For many parasites, the full set of hosts that are susceptible to infection is not known, and this could lead to a bias in estimates of transmission. We used counts of individual adult parasites from historical parasitology studies in southern Africa to map a bipartite network of the nematode parasites of herbivore hosts that occur in Botswana. Bipartite networks are used in community ecology t...
متن کاملParasite and host assemblages: embracing the reality will improve our knowledge of parasite transmission and virulence.
Interactions involving several parasite species (multi-parasitized hosts) or several host species (multi-host parasites) are the rule in nature. Only a few studies have investigated these realistic, but complex, situations from an evolutionary perspective. Consequently, their impact on the evolution of parasite virulence and transmission remains poorly understood. The mechanisms by which multip...
متن کاملCommunity interactions determine role of species in parasite spread amplification: the ecomultiplex network model
Most of zoonoses are multi-host parasites with multiple transmission routes that are usually investigated separately despite their potential interplay. As a unifying framework for modelling parasite spread through different paths of infection, we suggest "ecomultiplex" networks, i.e. multiplex networks representing interacting animal communities with (i) spatial structure and (ii) metabolic sca...
متن کاملThe study of parasite sharing for surveillance of zoonotic diseases
Determining the factors that influence the transmission of parasites among hosts is important for directing surveillance of animal parasites before they successfully emerge in humans, and increasing the efficacy of programs for the control and management of zoonotic diseases. Here we present a review of recent advances in the study of parasite sharing, wildlife ecology, and epidemiology that co...
متن کاملTrypanosoma cruzi reservoir—triatomine vector co-occurrence networks reveal meta-community effects by synanthropic mammals on geographic dispersal
Contemporary patterns of land use and global climate change are modifying regional pools of parasite host species. The impact of host community changes on human disease risk, however, is difficult to assess due to a lack of information about zoonotic parasite host assemblages. We have used a recently developed method to infer parasite-host interactions for Chagas Disease (CD) from vector-host c...
متن کامل