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Environmentally transmitted parasites: Host-jumping in a heterogeneous environment.
- Source :
-
Journal of theoretical biology [J Theor Biol] 2016 May 21; Vol. 397, pp. 33-42. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Feb 24. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Groups of chronically infected reservoir-hosts contaminate resource patches by shedding a parasite׳s free-living stage. Novel-host groups visit the same patches, where they are exposed to infection. We treat arrival at patches, levels of parasite deposition, and infection of the novel host as stochastic processes, and derive the expected time elapsing until a host-jump (initial infection of a novel host) occurs. At stationarity, mean parasite densities are independent of reservoir-host group size. But within-patch parasite-density variances increase with reservoir group size. The probability of infecting a novel host declines with parasite-density variance; consequently larger reservoir groups extend the mean waiting time for host-jumping. Larger novel-host groups increase the probability of a host-jump during any single patch visit, but also reduce the total number of visits per unit time. Interaction of these effects implies that the waiting time for the first infection increases with the novel-host group size. If the reservoir-host uses resource patches in any non-uniform manner, reduced spatial overlap between host species increases the waiting time for host-jumping.<br /> (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Acacia parasitology
Algorithms
Animals
Host-Parasite Interactions
Models, Biological
Monkey Diseases parasitology
Monkey Diseases transmission
Nematoda pathogenicity
Nematoda physiology
Nematode Infections parasitology
Nematode Infections transmission
Papio cynocephalus parasitology
Parasites pathogenicity
Parasitic Diseases, Animal transmission
Plant Diseases parasitology
Population Density
Stochastic Processes
Virulence
Disease Reservoirs parasitology
Environment
Parasites physiology
Parasitic Diseases, Animal parasitology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1095-8541
- Volume :
- 397
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of theoretical biology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 26921466
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.02.025