The context of host competence: a role for plasticity in host–parasite dynamics

Gervasi, Stephanie S.; Civitello, David J.; Kilvitis, Holly J.; Martin, Lynn B.

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2015.05.002

Cited by 104 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(99 reference statements)

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“…In general, understanding the ramifications of individual host stress biology for community disease risk is important, as host organisms are forced to endure or exploit increasingly modified areas [60]. As interindividual variation in competence is likely to vary extensively among hosts, disease risk may be greater than predicted based on current models [61] because of the disproportionate effects of some individuals on vector feeding and subsequent productivity when hosts are stressed [62,63]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host stress hormones alter vector feeding preferences, success, and productivity

et al. 2016

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Stress hormones might represent a key link between individual-level infection outcome, population-level parasite transmission, and zoonotic disease risk. Although the effects of stress on immunity are well known, stress hormones could also affect host-vector interactions via modification of host behaviours or vector-feeding patterns and subsequent reproductive success. Here, we experimentally manipulated songbird stress hormones and examined subsequent feeding preferences, feeding success, and productivity of mosquito vectors in addition to defensive behaviours of hosts. Despite being more defensive, birds with elevated stress hormone concentrations were approximately twice as likely to be fed on by mosquitoes compared to control birds. Moreover, stress hormones altered the relationship between the timing of laying and clutch size in blood-fed mosquitoes. Our results suggest that host stress could affect the transmission dynamics of vector-borne parasites via multiple pathways.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host stress hormones alter vector feeding preferences, success, and productivity

et al. 2016

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“…At the species‐level scale, the certain host species may have far higher transmission potential than others as a direct result of their physiological and behavioural attributes (Gervasi et al . ). Understanding how individual‐level behavioural and physiological factors scale up to drive higher‐level heterogeneities is therefore a critical part of improving our general understanding of the ‘super‐spreader’ phenomenon.…”

Section: Scales Of Heterogeneitymentioning

confidence: 97%

Heterogeneity in pathogen transmission: mechanisms and methodology

2016

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Summary1. Heterogeneity in the ability of hosts to transmit pathogens is among the most fundamental concepts in disease dynamics and has major implications for disease control strategies. 2. The number of secondary infections produced by an infected individual is a function of three components: an individual's infectiousness, the rate at which it contacts susceptible individuals and the duration of infection. Individual-level variation can emerge in each of these components through a combination of behavioural and physiological mechanisms. 3. In this review, we describe mechanisms that promote variation in the number of individuals to which an individual transmits a pathogen, emphasizing insights that can be gained by understanding which components of transmission (infectiousness, contact rate, infection duration) are primarily affected. We also discuss how behavioural and physiological processes generate transmission heterogeneities across multiple scales, from individual-level variation to heterogeneity among species. 4. Strategies for quantifying each transmission component are presented, and we discuss why studies focusing on only one component of the infection process may be misleading. 5. To conclude, we describe how future research focusing on variation in transmission across all three components can provide a more holistic view of heterogeneity in pathogen transmission.

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“…This probably explains why little is known about these processes in natural environments. Obtaining such information is, however, crucial to improve knowledge of host–pathogen dynamics and predict the likely impact of diseases, particularly during epidemics, on the most vulnerable classes of individuals and on population long‐term viability (Gervasi, Civitello, Kilvitis, & Martin, ; Hawley & Altizer, ; Kappeler, Cremer, & Nunn, ; Oli, Venkataraman, Klein, Wendland, & Brown, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social status mediates the fitness costs of infection with canine distemper virus in Serengeti spotted hyenas

et al. 2018

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The extent to which the fitness costs of infection are mediated by key life‐history traits such as age or social status is still unclear. Within populations, individual heterogeneity in the outcome of infection is the result of two successive processes; the degree of contact with the pathogen (exposure) and the immune response to infection. In social mammals, because individuals holding high social status typically interact more frequently with group members, they should be more often in contact with infected individuals than those of low social status. However, when access to resources is determined by social status, individuals with a high social status are often better nourished, have a greater opportunity to allocate resources to immune processes and therefore should have a smaller chance of succumbing to infection than individuals with low social status. We investigated the risk and fitness costs of infection during a virulent epidemic of canine distemper virus (CDV) in a social carnivore, the spotted hyena, in the Serengeti National Park. We analysed two decades of detailed life‐history data from 625 females and 816 males using a multi‐event capture–mark–recapture model that accounts for uncertainty in the assignment of individual infection states. Cubs of mothers with a high social status had a lower probability of CDV infection and were more likely to survive infection than those with low social status. Subadult and adult females with high social status had a higher infection probability than those with low social status. Subadult females and pre‐breeder males that had recovered from CDV infection had a lower survival than susceptible ones. Our study disentangles the relative importance of individual exposure and resource allocation to immune processes, demonstrates fitness costs of infection for juveniles, particularly for those with low social status, shows that patterns of infection can be driven by different mechanisms among juveniles and adults and establishes a negative relationship between infection and fitness in a free‐ranging mammal. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13059/suppinfo is available for this article.

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The context of host competence: a role for plasticity in host–parasite dynamics

Cited by 104 publications

References 58 publications

Host stress hormones alter vector feeding preferences, success, and productivity

Host stress hormones alter vector feeding preferences, success, and productivity

Heterogeneity in pathogen transmission: mechanisms and methodology

Social status mediates the fitness costs of infection with canine distemper virus in Serengeti spotted hyenas

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