Behavioural phenotypes predict disease susceptibility and infectiousness.
Biol Lett
; 12(8)2016 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27555652
ABSTRACT
Behavioural phenotypes may provide a means for identifying individuals that disproportionally contribute to disease spread and epizootic outbreaks. For example, bolder phenotypes may experience greater exposure and susceptibility to pathogenic infection because of distinct interactions with conspecifics and their environment. We tested the value of behavioural phenotypes in larval amphibians for predicting ranavirus transmission in experimental trials. We found that behavioural phenotypes characterized by latency-to-food and swimming profiles were predictive of disease susceptibility and infectiousness defined as the capacity of an infected host to transmit an infection by contacts. While viral shedding rates were positively associated with transmission, we also found an inverse relationship between contacts and infections. Together these results suggest intrinsic traits that influence behaviour and the quantity of pathogens shed during conspecific interactions may be an important contributor to ranavirus transmission. These results suggest that behavioural phenotypes provide a means to identify individuals more likely to spread disease and thus give insights into disease outbreaks that threaten wildlife and humans.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Susceptibilidad a Enfermedades
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article