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Norton AM, Buchmann G, Ashe A, Watson OT, Beekman M, Remnant EJ. Deformed wing virus genotypes A and B do not elicit immunologically different responses in naïve honey bee hosts. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 39072811 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Iflavirus aladeformis (Picornavirales: Iflaviridae), commonly known as deformed wing virus(DWV), in association with Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman (Mesostigmata: Varroidae), is a leading factor associated with honey bee (Apis mellifera L. [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) deaths. The virus and mite have a near global distribution, making it difficult to separate the effect of one from the other. The prevalence of two main DWV genotypes (DWV-A and DWV-B) has changed over time, leading to the possibility that the two strains elicit a different immune response by the host. Here, we use a honey bee population naïve to both the mite and the virus to investigate if honey bees show a different immunological response to DWV genotypes. We examined the expression of 19 immune genes by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and analysed small RNA after experimental injection with DWV-A and DWV-B. We found no evidence that DWV-A and DWV-B elicit different immune responses in honey bees. RNA interference genes were up-regulated during DWV infection, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) responses were proportional to viral loads yet did not inhibit DWV accumulation. The siRNA response towards DWV was weaker than the response to another honey bee pathogen, Triatovirus nigereginacellulae (Picornavirales: Dicistroviridae; black queen cell virus), suggesting that DWV is comparatively better at evading host antiviral defences. There was no evidence for the production of virus-derived Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in response to DWV. In contrast to previous studies, and in the absence of V. destructor, we found no evidence that DWV has an immunosuppressive effect. Overall, our results advance our understanding of the immunological effect that DWV in isolation elicits in honey bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Norton
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Alyson Ashe
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Owen T Watson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Madeleine Beekman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Emily J Remnant
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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2
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Walsman JC, Lambe M, Stephenson JF. Associating with kin selects for disease resistance and against tolerance. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240356. [PMID: 38772422 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Behavioural and physiological resistance are key to slowing epidemic spread. We explore the evolutionary and epidemic consequences of their different costs for the evolution of tolerance that trades off with resistance. Behavioural resistance affects social cohesion, with associated group-level costs, while the cost of physiological resistance accrues only to the individual. Further, resistance, and the associated reduction in transmission, benefit susceptible hosts directly, whereas infected hosts only benefit indirectly, by reducing transmission to kin. We therefore model the coevolution of transmission-reducing resistance expressed in susceptible hosts with resistance expressed in infected hosts, as a function of kin association, and analyse the effect on population-level outcomes. Using parameter values for guppies, Poecilia reticulata, and their gyrodactylid parasites, we find that: (1) either susceptible or infected hosts should invest heavily in resistance, but not both; (2) kin association drives investment in physiological resistance more strongly than in behavioural resistance; and (3) even weak levels of kin association can favour altruistic infected hosts that invest heavily in resistance (versus selfish tolerance), eliminating parasites. Overall, our finding that weak kin association affects the coevolution of infected and susceptible investment in both behavioural and physiological resistance suggests that kin selection may affect disease dynamics across systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason C Walsman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Earth Research Institute, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Madalyn Lambe
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jessica F Stephenson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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3
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Bushby EV, Thomas M, Vázquez-Diosdado JA, Occhiuto F, Kaler J. Early detection of bovine respiratory disease in pre-weaned dairy calves using sensor based feeding, movement, and social behavioural data. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9737. [PMID: 38679647 PMCID: PMC11056383 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58206-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous research shows that feeding and activity behaviours in combination with machine learning algorithms has the potential to predict the onset of bovine respiratory disease (BRD). This study used 229 novel and previously researched feeding, movement, and social behavioural features with machine learning classification algorithms to predict BRD events in pre-weaned calves. Data for 172 group housed calves were collected using automatic milk feeding machines and ultrawideband location sensors. Health assessments were carried out twice weekly using a modified Wisconsin scoring system and calves were classified as sick if they had a Wisconsin score of five or above and/or a rectal temperature of 39.5 °C or higher. A gradient boosting machine classification algorithm produced moderate to high performance: accuracy (0.773), precision (0.776), sensitivity (0.625), specificity (0.872), and F1-score (0.689). The most important 30 features were 40% feeding, 50% movement, and 10% social behavioural features. Movement behaviours, specifically the distance walked per day, were most important for model prediction, whereas feeding and social features aided in the model's prediction minimally. These results highlighting the predictive potential in this area but the need for further improvement before behavioural changes can be used to reliably predict the onset of BRD in pre-weaned calves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily V Bushby
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Matthew Thomas
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Jorge A Vázquez-Diosdado
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Francesca Occhiuto
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Jasmeet Kaler
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK.
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4
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Gupte PR, Albery GF, Gismann J, Sweeny A, Weissing FJ. Novel pathogen introduction triggers rapid evolution in animal social movement strategies. eLife 2023; 12:e81805. [PMID: 37548365 PMCID: PMC10449382 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal sociality emerges from individual decisions on how to balance the costs and benefits of being sociable. Novel pathogens introduced into wildlife populations should increase the costs of sociality, selecting against gregariousness. Using an individual-based model that captures essential features of pathogen transmission among social hosts, we show how novel pathogen introduction provokes the rapid evolutionary emergence and coexistence of distinct social movement strategies. These strategies differ in how they trade the benefits of social information against the risk of infection. Overall, pathogen-risk-adapted populations move more and have fewer associations with other individuals than their pathogen-risk-naive ancestors, reducing disease spread. Host evolution to be less social can be sufficient to cause a pathogen to be eliminated from a population, which is followed by a rapid recovery in social tendency. Our conceptual model is broadly applicable to a wide range of potential host-pathogen introductions and offers initial predictions for the eco-evolutionary consequences of wildlife pathogen spillover scenarios and a template for the development of theory in the ecology and evolution of animals' movement decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pratik Rajan Gupte
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenGroningenNetherlands
| | - Gregory F Albery
- Georgetown UniversityWashingtonUnited States
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Jakob Gismann
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenGroningenNetherlands
| | - Amy Sweeny
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Franz J Weissing
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenGroningenNetherlands
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5
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Hoekendijk JPA, Grundlehner A, Brasseur S, Kellenberger B, Tuia D, Aarts G. Stay close, but not too close: aerial image analysis reveals patterns of social distancing in seal colonies. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230269. [PMID: 37564067 PMCID: PMC10410205 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
Many species aggregate in dense colonies. Species-specific spatial patterns provide clues about how colonies are shaped by various (a)biotic factors, including predation, temperature regulation or disease transmission. Using aerial imagery, we examined these patterns in colonies on land of two sympatric seal species: the harbour seal and grey seal. Results show that the density of grey seals on land is twice as high as that of harbour seals. Furthermore, the nearest neighbour distance (NND) of harbour seals (median = 1.06 m) is significantly larger than that of grey seals (median = 0.53 m). Avoidance at small distances (i.e. social distancing) was supported by spatial simulation: when the observed seal locations were shuffled slightly, the frequency of the smallest NNDs (0-25 cm) increased, while the most frequently observed NNDs decreased. As harbour seals are more prone to infectious diseases, we hypothesize that the larger NNDs might be a behavioural response to reduce pathogen transmission. The approach presented here can potentially be used as a practical tool to differentiate between harbour and grey seals in remote sensing applications, particularly in low to medium resolution imagery (e.g. satellite imagery), where morphological characteristics alone are insufficient to differentiate between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. P. A. Hoekendijk
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790AB Den Burg, The Netherlands
- Wageningen University and Research, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - A. Grundlehner
- Wageningen University and Research, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University and Research, 1781AG Den Helder, The Netherlands
| | - S. Brasseur
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790AB Den Burg, The Netherlands
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University and Research, 1781AG Den Helder, The Netherlands
| | - B. Kellenberger
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - D. Tuia
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - G. Aarts
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790AB Den Burg, The Netherlands
- Wageningen University and Research, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University and Research, 1781AG Den Helder, The Netherlands
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6
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Gouthami K, Veeraraghavan V, Rahdar A, Bilal M, Shah A, Rai V, Gurumurthy DM, Ferreira LFR, Américo-Pinheiro JHP, Murari SK, Kalia S, Mulla SI. Molecular docking used as an advanced tool to determine novel compounds on emerging infectious diseases: A systematic review. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022:S0079-6107(22)00101-8. [PMID: 36240897 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2022.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases (EID) as well as reappearing irresistible infections are expanding worldwide. Utmost of similar cases, it was seen that the EIDs have long been perceived as a predominant conclusion of host-pathogen adaption. Here, one should get to analyze their host-pathogen interlink and their by needs to look ways, as an example, by exploitation process methodology particularly molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation, have been utilized in recent time as the most outstanding tools. Hence, we have overviewed some of important factors that influences on EIDs especially HIV/AIDs, H1N1 and coronavirus. Moreover, here we specified the importance of molecular docking applications especially molecular dynamics simulations approach to determine novel compounds on the emerging infectious diseases. Additionally, in vivo and in vitro studies approach to determine novel compounds on the emerging infectious diseases that has implemented to evaluate the limiting affinities between small particles as well as macromolecule that can further, used as a target of HIV/AIDs, H1N1, and coronavirus were also discussed. These novel drug molecules approved in vivo and in vitro studies with reaffirm results and hence, it is clear that the computational methods (mainly molecular docking and molecular dynamics) are found to be more effective technique for drug discovery and medical practitioners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuruvalli Gouthami
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Allied Health Sciences, REVA University, Bangalore, 560 064, India
| | - Vadamalai Veeraraghavan
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Allied Health Sciences, REVA University, Bangalore, 560 064, India
| | - Abbas Rahdar
- Department of Physics, University of Zabol, Zabol, 98615538, Iran
| | - Muhammad Bilal
- School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, China
| | - Anshuman Shah
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, Pusa Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | - Vandna Rai
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, Pusa Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | | | - Luiz Fernando Romanholo Ferreira
- Graduate Program in Process Engineering, Tiradentes University, Av. Murilo Dantas, 300, Farolândia, Aracaju, Sergipe, 49032-490, Brazil
| | | | - Satish Kumar Murari
- Department of Chemistry, P.E.S. College of Engineering, Mandya, 571401, Karnataka State, India
| | - Sanjay Kalia
- Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, C.G.O. Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003, India
| | - Sikandar I Mulla
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Allied Health Sciences, REVA University, Bangalore, 560 064, India.
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7
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Zhang C, Adriaanse MA, Potgieter R, Tummers L, de Wit J, Broersen J, de Bruin M, Aarts H. Habit formation of preventive behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of physical distancing and hand washing. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:1588. [PMID: 35987602 PMCID: PMC9392502 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13977-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing and hand washing have been used as effective means to reduce virus transmission in the Netherlands. However, these measures pose a societal challenge as they require people to change their customary behaviours in various contexts. The science of habit formation is potentially useful for informing policy-making in public health, but the current literature largely overlooked the role of habit in predicting and explaining these preventive behaviours. Our research aimed to describe habit formation processes of physical distancing and hand washing and to estimate the influences of habit strength and intention on behavioural adherence.
Methods
A longitudinal survey was conducted between July and November 2020 on a representative Dutch sample (n = 800). Respondents reported their intentions, habit strengths, and adherence regarding six context-specific preventive behaviours on a weekly basis. Temporal developments of the measured variables were visualized, quantified, and mapped onto five distinct phases of the pandemic. Regression models were used to test the effects of intention, habit strength, and their interaction on behavioural adherence.
Results
Dutch respondents generally had strong intentions to adhere to all preventive measures and their adherence rates were between 70% and 90%. They also self-reported to experience their behaviours as more automatic over time, and this increasing trend in habit strength was more evident for physical-distancing than for hand washing behaviours. For all six behaviours, both intention and habit strength predicted subsequent adherence (all ps < 2e-16). In addition, the predictive power of intention decreased over time and was weaker for respondents with strong habits for physical distancing when visiting supermarkets (B = -0.63, p <.0001) and having guests at home (B = -0.54, p <.0001) in the later phases of the study, but not for hand washing.
Conclusions
People’s adaptations to physical-distancing and hand washing measures involve both intentional and habitual processes. For public health management, our findings highlight the importance of using contextual cues to promote habit formation, especially for maintaining physical-distancing practices. For habit theories, our study provides a unique dataset that covers multiple health behaviours in a critical real-world setting.
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8
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Zhang W, Zhou F, Zhang Q, Lyu Z. Attachment anxiety and smartphone addiction among university students during confinement: Teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships and school connectedness as mediators. Front Public Health 2022; 10:947392. [PMID: 35991041 PMCID: PMC9388001 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.947392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning at home during the COVID-19 confinement might affect students' relationships with their peers, teachers, and schools and increase the possibility of smartphone addiction. We hypothesized that attachment anxiety directly and indirectly affects smartphone addiction, with teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, and school connectedness as mediators. The participants were 999 university students from different regions of China. The results showed that six of the paths were significant except the one between student–student relationships and smartphone addiction. Also, the association between attachment anxiety and smartphone addiction was mediated by teacher–student relationships and school connectedness not but student–student relationships. The current study highlights the mediating effect of school connectedness and teacher–student relationships in the multiple mediation model, and suggests that universities can alleviate the risk of smartphone addiction in distance teaching by cultivating good teacher–student relationships and strengthening students' sense of belonging to their schools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Zhang
- School of Journalism and Culture Communication, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
- *Correspondence: Wen Zhang
| | - Fangzhou Zhou
- Institute of Communication Studies, Communication University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Qingyu Zhang
- School of Accounting, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhixuan Lyu
- School of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
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9
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Townsend AK, Sewall KB, Leonard AS, Hawley DM. Infectious disease and cognition in wild populations. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:899-910. [PMID: 35872026 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Infectious disease is linked to impaired cognition across a breadth of host taxa and cognitive abilities, potentially contributing to variation in cognitive performance within and among populations. Impaired cognitive performance can stem from direct damage by the parasite, the host immune response, or lost opportunities for learning. Moreover, cognitive impairment could be compounded by factors that simultaneously increase infection risk and impair cognition directly, such as stress and malnutrition. As highlighted in this review, however, answers to fundamental questions remain unresolved, including the frequency, duration, and fitness consequences of infection-linked cognitive impairment in wild animal populations, the cognitive abilities most likely to be affected, and the potential for adaptive evolution of cognition in response to accelerating emergence of infectious disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea K Townsend
- Department of Biology, Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323, USA.
| | - Kendra B Sewall
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Anne S Leonard
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Dana M Hawley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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10
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Balasubramaniam KN, Aiempichitkijkarn N, Kaburu SSK, Marty PR, Beisner BA, Bliss-Moreau E, Arlet ME, Atwill E, McCowan B. Impact of joint interactions with humans and social interactions with conspecifics on the risk of zooanthroponotic outbreaks among wildlife populations. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11600. [PMID: 35804182 PMCID: PMC9263808 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15713-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Pandemics caused by pathogens that originate in wildlife highlight the importance of understanding the behavioral ecology of disease outbreaks at human–wildlife interfaces. Specifically, the relative effects of human–wildlife and wildlife-wildlife interactions on disease outbreaks among wildlife populations in urban and peri-urban environments remain unclear. We used social network analysis and epidemiological Susceptible-Infected-Recovered models to simulate zooanthroponotic outbreaks, through wild animals’ joint propensities to co-interact with humans, and their social grooming of conspecifics. On 10 groups of macaques (Macaca spp.) in peri-urban environments in Asia, we collected behavioral data using event sampling of human–macaque interactions within the same time and space, and focal sampling of macaques’ social interactions with conspecifics and overall anthropogenic exposure. Model-predicted outbreak sizes were related to structural features of macaques’ networks. For all three species, and for both anthropogenic (co-interactions) and social (grooming) contexts, outbreak sizes were positively correlated to the network centrality of first-infected macaques. Across host species and contexts, the above effects were stronger through macaques’ human co-interaction networks than through their grooming networks, particularly for rhesus and bonnet macaques. Long-tailed macaques appeared to show intraspecific variation in these effects. Our findings suggest that among wildlife in anthropogenically-impacted environments, the structure of their aggregations around anthropogenic factors makes them more vulnerable to zooanthroponotic outbreaks than their social structure. The global features of these networks that influence disease outbreaks, and their underlying socio-ecological covariates, need further investigation. Animals that consistently interact with both humans and their conspecifics are important targets for disease control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK. .,Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | | | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Biomedical Science and Physiology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY, UK
| | - Pascal R Marty
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Zoo Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 221, 8044, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Animal Resources Division, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Malgorzata E Arlet
- Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Edward Atwill
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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11
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Manlove K, Wilber M, White L, Bastille‐Rousseau G, Yang A, Gilbertson MLJ, Craft ME, Cross PC, Wittemyer G, Pepin KM. Defining an epidemiological landscape that connects movement ecology to pathogen transmission and pace‐of‐life. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1760-1782. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.14032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kezia Manlove
- Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
| | - Mark Wilber
- Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Knoxville Tennessee USA
| | - Lauren White
- National Socio‐Environmental Synthesis Center University of Maryland Annapolis Maryland USA
| | | | - Anni Yang
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
- National Wildlife Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA
| | - Marie L. J. Gilbertson
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota USA
- Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
| | - Meggan E. Craft
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota USA
| | - Paul C. Cross
- U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center Bozeman Montana USA
| | - George Wittemyer
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Kim M. Pepin
- National Wildlife Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
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12
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Lutermann H. Socializing in an Infectious World: The Role of Parasites in Social Evolution of a Unique Rodent Family. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.879031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Transmission of parasites between hosts is facilitated by close contact of hosts. Consequently, parasites have been proposed as an important constraint to the evolution of sociality accounting for its rarity. Despite the presumed costs associated with parasitism, the majority of species of African mole-rats (Family: Bathyergidae) are social. In fact, only the extremes of sociality (i.e., solitary and singular breeding) are represented in this subterranean rodent family. But how did bathyergids overcome the costs of parasitism? Parasite burden is a function of the exposure and susceptibility of a host to parasites. In this review I explore how living in sealed burrow systems and the group defenses that can be employed by closely related group members can effectively reduce the exposure and susceptibility of social bathyergids to parasites. Evidence suggests that this can be achieved largely by investment in relatively cheap and flexible behavioral rather than physiological defense mechanisms. This also shifts the selection pressure for parasites on successful transmission between group members rather than transmission between groups. In turn, this constrains the evolution of virulence and favors socially transmitted parasites (e.g., mites and lice) further reducing the costs of parasitism for social Bathyergidae. I conclude by highlighting directions for future research to evaluate the mechanisms proposed and to consider parasites as facilitators of social evolution not only in this rodent family but also other singular breeders.
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13
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14
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Gormally BMG, Bridgette K, Emmi A, Schuerman D, Lopes PC. Female presence does not increase testosterone but still ameliorates sickness behaviours in male Japanese quail. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220450. [PMID: 35620017 PMCID: PMC9128847 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Infections can dramatically modify animal behaviour. The extent of these changes depends on an animal's environment. It has been proposed that testosterone modulates the suppression of behavioural symptoms of sickness under certain reproductive contexts. To further understand the role played by testosterone in modulating sickness behaviours under reproductive contexts, we studied a species, the Japanese quail, in which female exposure rapidly decreases circulating testosterone in males. Males received either an immune challenge (lipopolysaccharide - LPS) or a control injection and their behaviours, mass change and testosterone levels were quantified in the presence or absence of a female. Both the presence of a female and LPS treatment reduced testosterone levels. LPS-treated males maintained in isolation expressed expected sickness behaviours, including increased resting (quantified as crouching) and decreased food and water intake. Despite the reduction in testosterone, when paired with females LPS-treated males showed similar amounts of mating behaviours to controls and reduced crouching. In sum, even under very low levels of testosterone, male quail had reduced sickness behaviours when exposed to females, indicating that testosterone may not be key in modulating sickness behaviours, at least in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenna M. G. Gormally
- Department of Biology, Chapman University, Orange, 1 University Drive, CA 92866, USA
| | - Kaelyn Bridgette
- Department of Biology, Chapman University, Orange, 1 University Drive, CA 92866, USA
| | - Aubrey Emmi
- Department of Biology, Chapman University, Orange, 1 University Drive, CA 92866, USA
| | - Delilah Schuerman
- Department of Biology, Chapman University, Orange, 1 University Drive, CA 92866, USA
| | - Patricia C. Lopes
- Department of Biology, Chapman University, Orange, 1 University Drive, CA 92866, USA
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15
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Young MJ, Silk MJ, Pritchard AJ, Fefferman NH. Diversity in valuing social contact and risk tolerance leading to the emergence of homophily in populations facing infectious threats. Phys Rev E 2022; 105:044315. [PMID: 35590588 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.105.044315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
How self-organization leads to the emergence of structure in social populations remains a fascinating and open question in the study of complex systems. One frequently observed structure that emerges again and again across systems is that of self-similar community, i.e., homophily. We use a game theoretic perspective to explore a case in which individuals choose affiliation partnerships based on only two factors: the value they place on having social contacts, and their risk tolerance for exposure to threat derived from social contact (e.g., infectious disease, threatening ideas, etc.). We show how diversity along just these two influences is sufficient to cause the emergence of self-organizing homophily in the population. We further consider a case in which extrinsic social factors influence the desire to maintain particular social ties, and show the robustness of emergent homophilic patterns to these additional influences. These results demonstrate how observable population-level homophily may arise out of individual behaviors that balance the value of social contacts against the potential risks associated with those contacts. We present and discuss these results in the context of outbreaks of infectious disease in human populations. Complementing the standard narrative about how social division alters epidemiological risk, we here show how epidemiological risk may deepen social divisions in human populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Young
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - Matthew J Silk
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - Alex J Pritchard
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - Nina H Fefferman
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
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16
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Amram R, Ravreby I, Trainin N, Yeshurun Y. Fear of being near: Fear supersedes sociability when interacting amid a pandemic. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022; 187:111404. [PMID: 35400779 PMCID: PMC8978598 DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In the COVID-19 era, physical interactions ubiquitously pose a disease threat. Using a novel online paradigm, this study tested whether under such unique circumstances, the fundamental motivation to avoid disease-related threats interacts with individual differences in sociability, such that: (i) responses to others are slowed down, particularly among sociable individuals, reflecting motivational tension; (ii) the role of sociability in predicting interaction likelihood is diminished. Participants (Israeli young adults, N = 207) listened to auditory descriptions of everyday social situations, taking place in either the physical or virtual space, and decided quickly whether to interact. Participants also completed the Sociability Scale (Cheek & Buss, 1981). Responses were slower in the physical compared to virtual space, regardless of sociability. The association between interaction likelihood and sociability was stronger in the virtual space, with sociability mirrored by self-reported fear of COVID-19 in predicting interaction likelihood. We propose that when physical contact with others poses a threat to safety, fear supersedes sociability in guiding behavior in physical interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Amram
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Inbal Ravreby
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Nitzan Trainin
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yaara Yeshurun
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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17
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18
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Romano D, Stefanini C. Unveiling social distancing mechanisms via a fish-robot hybrid interaction. BIOLOGICAL CYBERNETICS 2021; 115:565-573. [PMID: 33730211 PMCID: PMC8960612 DOI: 10.1007/s00422-021-00867-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Pathogen transmission is a major limit of social species. Social distancing, a behavioural-based response to diseases, has been regularly reported in nature. However, the identification of distinctive stimuli associated with an infectious disease represents a challenging task for host species, whose cognitive mechanisms are still poorly understood. Herein, the social fish Paracheirodon innesi, was selected as model organism to investigate animal abilities in exploiting visual information to identify and promote social distancing towards potentially infected conspecifics. To address this, a robotic fish replica mimicking a healthy P. innesi subject, and another mimicking P. innesi with morphological and/or locomotion anomalies were developed. P. innesi individuals were attracted by the healthy fish replica, while they avoided the fish replica with morphological abnormalities, as well as the fish replica with an intact appearance, but performing locomotion anomalies (both symptoms associated with a microsporidian parasite infesting P. innesi and other fish). Furthermore, the fish replica presenting both morphology and locomotion anomalies in conjunction, triggered a significantly stronger social distancing response. This confirms the hypothesis that group living animals overgeneralize cues that can be related with a disease to minimize transmission, and highlights the important role of visual cues in infection risk contexts. This study prompts more attention on the role of behavioural-based strategies to avoid pathogen/parasite diffusion, and can be used to optimize computational approaches to model disease dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donato Romano
- The BioRobotics Institute, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025, Pontedera, Pisa, Italy.
- Department of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, 56127, Pisa, Italy.
| | - Cesare Stefanini
- The BioRobotics Institute, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025, Pontedera, Pisa, Italy
- Department of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, 56127, Pisa, Italy
- Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center (HEIC), Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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19
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Pusceddu M, Cini A, Alberti S, Salaris E, Theodorou P, Floris I, Satta A. Honey bees increase social distancing when facing the ectoparasite Varroa destructor. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabj1398. [PMID: 34714677 PMCID: PMC8555907 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj1398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Social distancing in response to infectious diseases is a strategy exhibited by human and nonhuman animals to counteract the spread of pathogens and/or parasites. Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies are ideal models to study this behavior because of the compartmentalized structure of these societies, evolved under exposure to parasite pressure and the need to ensure efficient functioning. Here, by using a combination of spatial and behavioral approaches, we investigated whether the presence of the ectoparasite mite Varroa destructor induces changes in the social organization of A. mellifera colonies that could reduce the spread of the parasite. Our results demonstrated that honey bees react to the intrusion of V. destructor by modifying space use and social interactions to increase the social distancing between young (nurses) and old (foragers) cohorts of bees. These findings strongly suggest a behavioral strategy not previously reported in honey bees to limit the intracolony parasite transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelina Pusceddu
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, viale Italia 39A, 07100 Sassari, Italy
- Corresponding author. (M.P.); (A.S.)
| | - Alessandro Cini
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Simona Alberti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin, Italy
| | - Emanuele Salaris
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, viale Italia 39A, 07100 Sassari, Italy
| | - Panagiotis Theodorou
- General Zoology, Institute for Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Ignazio Floris
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, viale Italia 39A, 07100 Sassari, Italy
| | - Alberto Satta
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, viale Italia 39A, 07100 Sassari, Italy
- Corresponding author. (M.P.); (A.S.)
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20
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Kumari N, Bhattacharya SN, Das S, Datt S, Singh T, Jassal M, Agrawal AK. In Situ Functionalization of Cellulose with Zinc Pyrithione for Antimicrobial Applications. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:47382-47393. [PMID: 34606229 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c14113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Considering the public health demands for stronger and effective personal protective clothing, herein, antimicrobial fabrics using a known bacteriostatic and fungistatic drug zinc pyrithione (ZPT) have been reported. ZPT was synthesized in situ on cellulosic fabric, viscose (VC), using a zinc metal precursor and 2-mercaptopyridine-N-oxide as a ligand (VC-ZPT). For comparison, viscose was also phosphorylated (VP) before in situ functionalization with ZPT (VP-ZPT). Both approaches provided adequate protection from microbes; however, functionalization of cellulose with phosphate (VP) resulted in the formation of a linking group between cellulose and ZPT, which exhibited better uniformity of ZPT over the fabric surface and higher durability to washing. The functionalization was confirmed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy. Further, the bonding of phosphate with ZPT was confirmed by 31P solid-state NMR. The physical properties, such as appearance, bending length, and mechanical strength, of the treated fabrics remained unchanged. The antimicrobial activities of VP-ZPT with VC-ZPT were studied against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, which were found to be effective until 20 laundry cycles in VP-ZPT. Additionally, VP-ZPT samples exhibited poor adherence of bacteria on the fabric surface. The functionalized fabrics may find applications for topical skin diseases in reducing the necessity of repeated use of antibiotic ointments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neeta Kumari
- SMITA Research Lab, Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, Delhi 110016, India
| | - Sambit Nath Bhattacharya
- Department of Dermatology and S.T.D., University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH), University of Delhi, Dilshad Garden, Delhi 110095, India
| | - Shukla Das
- Department of Microbiology, UCMS and GTB Hospital, University of Delhi, Dilshad Garden, Delhi 110095, India
| | - Shyama Datt
- Department of Microbiology, UCMS and GTB Hospital, University of Delhi, Dilshad Garden, Delhi 110095, India
| | - Taru Singh
- Department of Microbiology, UCMS and GTB Hospital, University of Delhi, Dilshad Garden, Delhi 110095, India
| | - Manjeet Jassal
- SMITA Research Lab, Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, Delhi 110016, India
| | - Ashwini K Agrawal
- SMITA Research Lab, Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, Delhi 110016, India
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21
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Janecka MJ, Rovenolt F, Stephenson JF. How does host social behavior drive parasite non-selective evolution from the within-host to the landscape-scale? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03089-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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22
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Feldman I, Natsheh A, Nesher G, Breuer GS. Social distancing and bacteraemia in the time of COVID-19. Intern Med J 2021; 52:223-227. [PMID: 34617387 PMCID: PMC8652679 DOI: 10.1111/imj.15560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Background Social distancing was the predominant strategy used to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) at the start of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Aims To study the impact of social distancing on the incidence of bacteraemia. The number of admitted patients with positive blood cultures in April–May 2020 in one tertiary medical centre was compared with the number during the same period in the previous 3 years (April–May 2017–2019). Methods Retrospective review of all positive blood cultures from January to July in the years 2017–2020. Results There were fewer cases of Streptococcus bacteraemia as well as coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus bacteraemia and other possible contaminated blood cultures in April–May 2020. Compared with the previous 3 years, the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteraemia among all bacteraemias was lower in April–May 2020 (5%) than in 2017–2019 (12.0%; 95% confidence interval 10.3–14.1%). In general, fewer cases of bacteraemia caused by oropharynx organisms were observed in April–May 2020; only 6 cases versus 31 (95% confidence interval 10–53) during the same period in 2017–2019. Only one case of S. pneumoniae bacteraemia was observed in April–May 2020 and its percentage among all bacteraemias was lower in April–May 2020 (0.4%) than during the same period in 2017–2019 (3.3%). Conclusion The incidences of streptococcal bacteraemia and bacteraemia of organisms transmitted through respiratory secretions were lower when there were social distancing restrictions. Adopting measures of social distancing may decrease the morbidity from bacteraemia caused by oropharynx and respiratory bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itamar Feldman
- Department of internal medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center P.O.Box 3235, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ayman Natsheh
- Department of internal medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Gideon Nesher
- Department of internal medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Hadassah Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Gabriel S Breuer
- Department of internal medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Hadassah Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel
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23
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Alciatore G, Ugelvig LV, Frank E, Bidaux J, Gal A, Schmitt T, Kronauer DJC, Ulrich Y. Immune challenges increase network centrality in a queenless ant. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211456. [PMID: 34493081 PMCID: PMC8424377 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Social animals display a wide range of behavioural defences against infectious diseases, some of which increase social contacts with infectious individuals (e.g. mutual grooming), while others decrease them (e.g. social exclusion). These defences often rely on the detection of infectious individuals, but this can be achieved in several ways that are difficult to differentiate. Here, we combine non-pathogenic immune challenges with automated tracking in colonies of the clonal raider ant to ask whether ants can detect the immune status of their social partners and to quantify their behavioural responses to this perceived infection risk. We first show that a key behavioural response elicited by live pathogens (allogrooming) can be qualitatively recapitulated by immune challenges alone. Automated scoring of interactions between all colony members reveals that this behavioural response increases the network centrality of immune-challenged individuals through a general increase in physical contacts. These results show that ants can detect the immune status of their nest-mates and respond with a general 'caring' strategy, rather than avoidance, towards social partners that are perceived to be infectious. Finally, we find no evidence that changes in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles drive these behavioural effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giacomo Alciatore
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETHZ Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Line V. Ugelvig
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Erik Frank
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Biocentre, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Jérémie Bidaux
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Asaf Gal
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Biocentre, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Daniel J. C. Kronauer
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Yuko Ulrich
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, 07745 Jena, Germany
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24
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Balasubramaniam KN, Kaburu SSK, Marty PR, Beisner BA, Bliss-Moreau E, Arlet ME, Ruppert N, Ismail A, Anuar Mohd Sah S, Mohan L, Rattan S, Kodandaramaiah U, McCowan B. Implementing social network analysis to understand the socioecology of wildlife co-occurrence and joint interactions with humans in anthropogenic environments. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:2819-2833. [PMID: 34453852 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Human population expansion into wildlife habitats has increased interest in the behavioural ecology of human-wildlife interactions. To date, however, the socioecological factors that determine whether, when or where wild animals take risks by interacting with humans and anthropogenic factors still remains unclear. We adopt a comparative approach to address this gap, using social network analysis (SNA). SNA, increasingly implemented to determine human impact on wildlife ecology, can be a powerful tool to understand how animal socioecology influences the spatiotemporal distribution of human-wildlife interactions. For 10 groups of rhesus, long-tailed and bonnet macaques (Macaca spp.) living in anthropogenically impacted environments in Asia, we collected data on human-macaque interactions, animal demographics, and macaque-macaque agonistic and affiliative social interactions. We constructed 'human co-interaction networks' based on associations between macaques that interacted with humans within the same time and spatial locations, and social networks based on macaque-macaque allogrooming behaviour, affiliative behaviours of short duration (agonistic support, lip-smacking, silent bare-teeth displays and non-sexual mounting) and proximity. Pre-network permutation tests revealed that, within all macaque groups, specific individuals jointly took risks by repeatedly, consistently co-interacting with humans within and across time and space. GLMMs revealed that macaques' tendencies to co-interact with humans was positively predicted by their tendencies to engage in short-duration affiliative interactions and tolerance of conspecifics, although the latter varied across species (bonnets>rhesus>long-tailed). Male macaques were more likely to co-interact with humans than females. Neither macaques' grooming relationships nor their dominance ranks predicted their tendencies to co-interact with humans. Our findings suggest that, in challenging anthropogenic environments, less (compared to more) time-consuming forms of affiliation, and additionally greater social tolerance in less ecologically flexible species with a shorter history of exposure to humans, may be key to animals' joint propensities to take risks to gain access to resources. For males, greater exploratory tendencies and less energetically demanding long-term life-history strategies (compared to females) may also influence such joint risk-taking. From conservation and public health perspectives, wildlife connectedness within such co-interaction networks may inform interventions to mitigate zoonosis, and move human-wildlife interactions from conflict towards coexistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Biomedical Science and Physiology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
| | - Pascal R Marty
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Zoo Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Animal Resources Division, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Malgorzata E Arlet
- Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | - Nadine Ruppert
- School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,Malaysian Primatological Society, Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia
| | - Ahmad Ismail
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | | | - Lalith Mohan
- Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, Shimla, India
| | | | - Ullasa Kodandaramaiah
- IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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25
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A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18158188. [PMID: 34360479 PMCID: PMC8346162 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18158188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel self-administered at-home daily virtual reality (VR)-based intervention (COVID Feel Good) for reducing the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 40 individuals who had experienced at least two months of strict social distancing measures followed COVID Feel Good between June and July 2020 for one week. Primary outcome measures were depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, perceived stress levels, and hopelessness. Secondary outcomes were the experienced social connectedness and the level of fear experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Additionally, we also performed a clinical change analysis on primary outcome measures. As concerning primary outcome measures, participants exhibited improvements from baseline to post-intervention for depression levels, stress levels, general distress, and perceived stress (all p < 0.05) but not for the perceived hopelessness (p = 0.110). Results for the secondary outcomes indicated an increase in social connectedness from T0 to T1 (p = 0.033) but not a significant reduction in the perceived fear of coronavirus (p = 0.412). Among these study variables, these significant improvements were maintained from post-intervention to the 2-week follow-up (p > 0.05). Results indicated that the intervention was associated with good clinical outcomes, low-to-no risks for the treatment, and no adverse effects or risks. Globally, evidence suggests a beneficial effect of the proposed protocol and its current availability in 12 different languages makes COVID Feel Good a free choice for helping individuals worldwide to cope with the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 crisis, although large scale trials are needed to evaluate its efficacy.
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26
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Serino S, Trabanelli S, Jandus C, Fellrath J, Grivaz P, Paladino MP, Serino A. Sharpening of peripersonal space during the COVID-19 pandemic. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R889-R890. [PMID: 34314711 PMCID: PMC8188303 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Our social world has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the direct impact of the pandemic on physical health, the social distancing measures implemented worldwide to slow down disease transmission have dramatically impacted social interactions1,2. These measures, including orders to stay at home and to maintain a social distance of at least 2 meters, have been essential to limit the spread of the disease, but they have had severe costs for humans as social animals2. Right before and right after the adoption of the most stringent measures in Switzerland in Spring 2020, we were conducting a series of experiments to measure the representation of the so-called peripersonal space - the space immediately surrounding our body, where we normally interact with objects and other individuals3. We found that the introduction of social distancing measures led to a reduction in the extent of the peripersonal space and enhanced its segregation between individuals, as if the presence of others in close space would activate an implicit form of freezing response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Serino
- Department Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Sara Trabanelli
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Ludwig Institute Lausanne Branch, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Camilla Jandus
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Ludwig Institute Lausanne Branch, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julia Fellrath
- Department Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Petr Grivaz
- Department Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Maria Paola Paladino
- Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Andrea Serino
- Department Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland; MindMaze Holding, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Van Oosterhout C. Mitigating the threat of emerging infectious diseases; a coevolutionary perspective. Virulence 2021; 12:1288-1295. [PMID: 33957064 PMCID: PMC8115449 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2021.1920741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Cock Van Oosterhout
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
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28
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Lopes PC, French SS, Woodhams DC, Binning SA. Sickness behaviors across vertebrate taxa: proximate and ultimate mechanisms. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:260576. [PMID: 33942101 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.225847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
There is nothing like a pandemic to get the world thinking about how infectious diseases affect individual behavior. In this respect, sick animals can behave in ways that are dramatically different from healthy animals: altered social interactions and changes to patterns of eating and drinking are all hallmarks of sickness. As a result, behavioral changes associated with inflammatory responses (i.e. sickness behaviors) have important implications for disease spread by affecting contacts with others and with common resources, including water and/or sleeping sites. In this Review, we summarize the behavioral modifications, including changes to thermoregulatory behaviors, known to occur in vertebrates during infection, with an emphasis on non-mammalian taxa, which have historically received less attention. We then outline and discuss our current understanding of the changes in physiology associated with the production of these behaviors and highlight areas where more research is needed, including an exploration of individual and sex differences in the acute phase response and a greater understanding of the ecophysiological implications of sickness behaviors for disease at the population level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia C Lopes
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA
| | - Susannah S French
- Department of Biology and The Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
| | - Douglas C Woodhams
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA
| | - Sandra A Binning
- Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada, H3C 3J7
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29
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Social contact behaviors are associated with infection status for Trichuris sp. in wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0240872. [PMID: 33882065 PMCID: PMC8059843 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Social grooming in the animal kingdom is common and serves several functions, from removing ectoparasites to maintaining social bonds between conspecifics. We examined whether time spent grooming with others in a highly social mammal species was associated with infection status for gastrointestinal parasites. Of six parasites detected, one (Trichuris sp.) was associated with social grooming behaviors, but more specifically with direct physical contact with others. Individuals infected with Trichuris sp. spent significantly less time grooming conspecifics than those not infected, and time in direct contact with others was the major predictor of infection status. One model correctly predicted infection status for Trichuris sp. with a reliability of 95.17% overall when the variables used were time spent in direct contact and time spent grooming others. This decrease in time spent grooming and interacting with others is likely a sickness behavior displayed by individuals with less energy or motivation for non-essential behaviors. This study emphasizes the possible links between host behavior and parasitic infections and highlights the need for an understanding of a study population’s parasitic infections when attempting to interpret animal behavior.
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30
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Amoroso CR, Nunn CL. Epidemiological transitions in human evolution and the richness of viruses, helminths, and protozoa. EVOLUTION MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 9:139-148. [PMID: 33738104 PMCID: PMC7953414 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoab009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Background and objectives In absolute terms, humans are extremely highly parasitized compared to other primates. This may reflect that humans are outliers in traits correlated with parasite richness: population density, geographic range area, and study effort. The high degree of parasitism could also reflect amplified disease risk associated with agriculture and urbanization. Alternatively, controlling for other variables, cultural and psychological adaptations could have reduced parasitism in humans over evolutionary time. Methodology We predicted the number of parasites that would infect a nonhuman primate with human phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic position, and then compared observed parasitism of humans in eight geopolitical countries to the predicted distributions. The analyses incorporated study effort, phylogeny, and drivers of parasitism in 33 primate species. Results Analyses of individual countries were not supportive of either hypothesis. When analyzed collectively, however, human populations showed consistently lower than expected richness of protozoa and helminths, but higher richness of viruses. Thus, human evolutionary innovations and new parasite exposures may have impacted groups of parasites in different ways, with support for both hypotheses in the overall analysis. Conclusions and implications The high level of parasitism observed in humans only applies to viruses, and was not extreme in any of our tests of individual countries. In contrast, we find consistent reductions in protozoa and helminths across countries, suggesting reduced parasitism by these groups during human evolution. We propose that hygienic and technological advances might have extinguished fecal-orally or indirectly transmitted parasites like helminths, whereas higher human densities and host-shifting potential of viruses have supported increased virus richness. Lay Summary Vastly more parasite species infect humans than any other primate host. Controlling for factors that influence parasite richness, such as the intensity of study effort and body mass, we find that humans may have more viruses, but fewer helminths and protozoa, than expected based on evolutionary analyses of parasitism in other primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline R Amoroso
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Dr, Durham, NC 27707, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Virginia, 485 McCormick Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | - Charles L Nunn
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Dr, Durham, NC 27707, USA.,Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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31
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Abstract
Conceptual parallels between physiological and behavioral forms of resistance to parasites have led to the development of terminology like "the behavioral immune system" to refer to behaviors that combat parasites. I extend this metaphor by applying findings from research on physiological resistance to generate predictions for the ecology and evolution of behavioral resistance (here, synonymous with avoidance). In certain cases, behavioral resistance may follow similar evolutionary dynamics to physiological resistance. However, more research on the nature of the costs of behavioral resistance is needed, including how parasite transmission mode may be a key determinant of these costs. In addition, "acquiring" behavioral resistance may require specific mechanisms separate from classical forms of conditioning, due to constraints on timing of host learning processes and parasite incubation periods. Given existing literature, behavioral resistance to infectious disease seems more likely to be innate than acquired within the lifetime of an individual, raising new questions about how individual experience could shape anti-parasite behaviors. This review provides a framework for using existing literature on physiological resistance to generate predictions for behavioral resistance, and highlights several important directions for future research based on this comparison.
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32
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The role of social structure and dynamics in the maintenance of endemic disease. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021; 75:122. [PMID: 34421183 PMCID: PMC8370858 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03055-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Social interactions are required for the direct transmission of infectious diseases. Consequently, the social network structure of populations plays a key role in shaping infectious disease dynamics. A huge research effort has examined how specific social network structures make populations more (or less) vulnerable to damaging epidemics. However, it can be just as important to understand how social networks can contribute to endemic disease dynamics, in which pathogens are maintained at stable levels for prolonged periods of time. Hosts that can maintain endemic disease may serve as keystone hosts for multi-host pathogens within an ecological community, and also have greater potential to act as key wildlife reservoirs of agricultural and zoonotic diseases. Here, we examine combinations of social and demographic processes that can foster endemic disease in hosts. We synthesise theoretical and empirical work to demonstrate the importance of both social structure and social dynamics in maintaining endemic disease. We also highlight the importance of distinguishing between the local and global persistence of infection and reveal how different social processes drive variation in the scale at which infectious diseases appear endemic. Our synthesis provides a framework by which to understand how sociality contributes to the long-term maintenance of infectious disease in wildlife hosts and provides a set of tools to unpick the social and demographic mechanisms involved in any given host-pathogen system. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00265-021-03055-8.
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33
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Glaubitz A, Fu F. Oscillatory dynamics in the dilemma of social distancing. Proc Math Phys Eng Sci 2020; 476:20200686. [PMID: 33363444 PMCID: PMC7735308 DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2020.0686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Social distancing as one of the main non-pharmaceutical interventions can help slow down the spread of diseases, like in the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective social distancing, unless enforced as drastic lockdowns and mandatory cordon sanitaire, requires consistent strict collective adherence. However, it remains unknown what the determinants for the resultant compliance of social distancing and their impact on disease mitigation are. Here, we incorporate into the epidemiological process with an evolutionary game theory model that governs the evolution of social distancing behaviour. In our model, we assume an individual acts in their best interest and their decisions are driven by adaptive social learning of the real-time risk of infection in comparison with the cost of social distancing. We find interesting oscillatory dynamics of social distancing accompanied with waves of infection. Moreover, the oscillatory dynamics are dampened with a non-trivial dependence on model parameters governing decision-makings and gradually cease when the cumulative infections exceed the herd immunity. Compared to the scenario without social distancing, we quantify the degree to which social distancing mitigates the epidemic and its dependence on individuals’ responsiveness and rationality in their behaviour changes. Our work offers new insights into leveraging human behaviour in support of pandemic response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Glaubitz
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Feng Fu
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.,Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA
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34
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Russell RE, DiRenzo GV, Szymanski JA, Alger KE, Grant EHC. Principles and Mechanisms of Wildlife Population Persistence in the Face of Disease. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.569016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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35
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Moscovice LR, Sueur C, Aureli F. How socio-ecological factors influence the differentiation of social relationships: an integrated conceptual framework. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200384. [PMID: 32933407 PMCID: PMC7532722 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The extent of differentiation of social relationships within groups is a means to assess social complexity, with greater differentiation indicating greater social complexity. Socio-ecological factors are likely to influence social complexity, but no attempt has been made to explain the differentiation of social relationships using multiple socio-ecological factors. Here, we propose a conceptual framework based on four components underlying multiple socio-ecological factors that influence the differentiation of social relationships: the extent of within-group contest competition to access resources, the extent to which individuals differ in their ability to provide a variety of services, the need for group-level cooperation and the constraints on social interactions. We use the framework to make predictions about the degree of relationship differentiation that can be expected within a group according to the cumulative contribution of multiple socio-ecological factors to each of the four components. The framework has broad applicability, since the four components are likely to be relevant to a wide range of animal taxa and to additional socio-ecological factors not explicitly dealt with here. Hence, the framework can be used as the basis for the development of novel and testable hypotheses about intra- and interspecific differences in relationship differentiation and social complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liza R Moscovice
- Institute of behavioural physiology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Department of Ecology, Physiology and Ethology, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC, UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Filippo Aureli
- Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.,Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
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36
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Amoroso CR, Antonovics J. Evolution of behavioural resistance in host-pathogen systems. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200508. [PMID: 32933405 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioural resistance to parasites is widespread in animals, yet little is known about the evolutionary dynamics that have shaped these strategies. We show that theory developed for the evolution of physiological parasite resistance can only be applied to behavioural resistance under limited circumstances. We find that accounting explicitly for the behavioural processes, including the detectability of infected individuals, leads to novel dynamics that are strongly dependent on the nature of the costs and benefits of social interactions. As with physiological resistance, evolutionary dynamics of behavioural resistance can also lead to mixed strategies that balance these costs and benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline R Amoroso
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA
| | - Janis Antonovics
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA
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37
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Brüne M, Wilson DR. Evolutionary perspectives on human behavior during the coronavirus pandemic: Insights from game theory. Evol Med Public Health 2020; 2020:181-186. [PMID: 33204426 PMCID: PMC7499656 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoaa034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic constitutes a global challenge to society and medicine. Here, we review evolutionary insights that are relevant for the understanding of how people respond to the pandemic and what to expect in the aftermath of the crisis. Specifically, we argue that the behavioral immune system (BIS) and sickness behavior (SB) comprise two adaptive responses to impending and actual infection, respectively, and that individuals activating their BIS differ from those showing SB in important ways that may have implications for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Moreover, we reframe some of the behavioral health issues associated with the pandemic in a game-theoretical scenario, illustrating the difficulties that arise when public health is treated as a 'public good'. Lay summary: The coronavirus pandemic constitutes a global challenge to society and medicine. In this article, we employ evolutionary theory to improve our understanding of how people respond to the pandemic. Specifically, we argue that human behavior is guided by ancient mechanisms involving either the avoidance of infection or defense against attacks in times of enhanced vulnerability. Moreover, we reframe some of the behavioral health issues associated with the pandemic in a game-theoretical scenario. This helps understand why most people comply with rules of social distancing, while a minority fails to do so for very different reasons. The evolutionary perspective also allows making some predictions for the course of the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Brüne
- Division of Social Neuropsychiatry and Evolutionary Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany
| | - Daniel R Wilson
- President, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA
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