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Werner CS, Kasan K, Geyer JK, Elmasri M, Farrell MJ, Nunn CL. Using phylogeographic link-prediction in primates to prioritize human parasite screening. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 182:583-594. [PMID: 38384356 PMCID: PMC10878720 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Objectives The ongoing risk of emerging infectious disease has renewed calls for understanding the origins of zoonoses and identifying future zoonotic disease threats. Given their close phylogenetic relatedness and geographic overlap with humans, non-human primates (NHPs) have been the source of many infectious diseases throughout human evolution. NHPs harbor diverse parasites, with some infecting only a single host species while others infect species from multiple families. Materials and Methods We applied a novel link-prediction method to predict undocumented instances of parasite sharing between humans and NHPs. Our model makes predictions based on phylogenetic distances and geographic overlap among NHPs and humans in six countries with high NHP diversity: Columbia, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, China and Indonesia. Results Of the 899 human parasites documented in the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON) database for these countries, 12% were shared with at least one other NHP species. The link prediction model identified an additional 54 parasites that are likely to infect humans but were not reported in GIDEON. These parasites were mostly host generalists, yet their phylogenetic host breadth varied substantially. Discussion As human activities and populations encroach on NHP habitats, opportunities for parasite sharing between human and non-human primates will continue to increase. Our study identifies specific infectious organisms to monitor in countries with high NHP diversity, while the comparative analysis of host generalism, parasite taxonomy, and transmission mode provides insights to types of parasites that represent high zoonotic risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney S. Werner
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Koray Kasan
- Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Julie K. Geyer
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mohamad Elmasri
- Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Maxwell J. Farrell
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Charles L. Nunn
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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2
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Herrera JP, Moody J, Nunn CL. Predicting primate-parasite associations using exponential random graph models. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:710-722. [PMID: 36633380 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Ecological associations between hosts and parasites are influenced by host exposure and susceptibility to parasites, and by parasite traits, such as transmission mode. Advances in network analysis allow us to answer questions about the causes and consequences of traits in ecological networks in ways that could not be addressed in the past. We used a network-based framework (exponential random graph models or ERGMs) to investigate the biogeographic, phylogenetic and ecological characteristics of hosts and parasites that affect the probability of interactions among nonhuman primates and their parasites. Parasites included arthropods, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses and helminths. We investigated existing hypotheses, along with new predictors and an expanded host-parasite database that included 213 primate nodes, 763 parasite nodes and 2319 edges among them. Analyses also investigated phylogenetic relatedness, sampling effort and spatial overlap among hosts. In addition to supporting some previous findings, our ERGM approach demonstrated that more threatened hosts had fewer parasites, and notably, that this effect was independent of hosts also having a smaller geographic range. Despite having fewer parasites, threatened host species shared more parasites with other hosts, consistent with loss of specialist parasites and threat arising from generalist parasites that can be maintained in other, non-threatened hosts. Viruses, protozoa and helminths had broader host ranges than bacteria, or fungi, and parasites that infect non-primates had a higher probability of infecting more primate species. The value of the ERGM approach for investigating the processes structing host-parasite networks provided a more complete view on the biogeographic, phylogenetic and ecological traits that influence parasite species richness and parasite sharing among hosts. The results supported some previous analyses and revealed new associations that warrant future research, thus revealing how hosts and parasites interact to form ecological networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Herrera
- Duke Lemur Center SAVA Conservation, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - James Moody
- Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Charles L Nunn
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.,Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
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3
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Xu Z, MacIntosh AJ, Castellano-Navarro A, Macanás-Martínez E, Suzumura T, Duboscq J. Linking parasitism to network centrality and the impact of sampling bias in its interpretation. PeerJ 2022; 10:e14305. [PMID: 36420133 PMCID: PMC9677876 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Group living is beneficial for individuals, but also comes with costs. One such cost is the increased possibility of pathogen transmission because increased numbers or frequencies of social contacts are often associated with increased parasite abundance or diversity. The social structure of a group or population is paramount to patterns of infection and transmission. Yet, for various reasons, studies investigating the links between sociality and parasitism in animals, especially in primates, have only accounted for parts of the group (e.g., only adults), which is likely to impact the interpretation of results. Here, we investigated the relationship between social network centrality and an estimate of gastrointestinal helminth infection intensity in a whole group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). We then tested the impact of omitting parts of the group on this relationship. We aimed to test: (1) whether social network centrality -in terms of the number of partners (degree), frequency of interactions (strength), and level of social integration (eigenvector) -was linked to parasite infection intensity (estimated by eggs per gram of faeces, EPG); and, (2) to what extent excluding portions of individuals within the group might influence the observed relationship. We conducted social network analysis on data collected from one group of Japanese macaques over three months on Koshima Island, Japan. We then ran a series of knock-out simulations. General linear mixed models showed that, at the whole-group level, network centrality was positively associated with geohelminth infection intensity. However, in partial networks with only adult females, only juveniles, or random subsets of the group, the strength of this relationship - albeit still generally positive - lost statistical significance. Furthermore, knock-out simulations where individuals were removed but network metrics were retained from the original whole-group network showed that these changes are partly a power issue and partly an effect of sampling the incomplete network. Our study indicates that sampling bias can thus hamper our ability to detect real network effects involving social interaction and parasitism. In addition to supporting earlier results linking geohelminth infection to Japanese macaque social networks, this work introduces important methodological considerations for research into the dynamics of social transmission, with implications for infectious disease epidemiology, population management, and health interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihong Xu
- Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan,Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
| | - Andrew J.J. MacIntosh
- Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan,Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
| | - Alba Castellano-Navarro
- Ethology and Animal Welfare Section, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia, Valencia, Spain,Institute of Biology, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
| | - Emilio Macanás-Martínez
- Ethology and Animal Welfare Section, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia, Valencia, Spain,Institute of Biology, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
| | | | - Julie Duboscq
- UMR7206 Eco-Anthropologie, CNRS-MNHN-Université de Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France,Department of Behavioural Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
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4
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Plant invasion drives liana and tree community assemblages and liana-tree network structure in two moist semi-deciduous forests in Ghana. Biol Invasions 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-022-02933-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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5
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Merging theory and experiments to predict and understand coextinctions. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:886-898. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Voinson M, Nunn CL, Goldberg A. Primate malarias as a model for cross-species parasite transmission. eLife 2022; 11:e69628. [PMID: 35086643 PMCID: PMC8798051 DOI: 10.7554/elife.69628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasites regularly switch into new host species, representing a disease burden and conservation risk to the hosts. The distribution of these parasites also gives insight into characteristics of ecological networks and genetic mechanisms of host-parasite interactions. Some parasites are shared across many species, whereas others tend to be restricted to hosts from a single species. Understanding the mechanisms producing this distribution of host specificity can enable more effective interventions and potentially identify genetic targets for vaccines or therapies. As ecological connections between human and local animal populations increase, the risk to human and wildlife health from novel parasites also increases. Which of these parasites will fizzle out and which have the potential to become widespread in humans? We consider the case of primate malarias, caused by Plasmodium parasites, to investigate the interacting ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that put human and nonhuman primates at risk for infection. Plasmodium host switching from nonhuman primates to humans led to ancient introductions of the most common malaria-causing agents in humans today, and new parasite switching is a growing threat, especially in Asia and South America. Based on a wild host-Plasmodium occurrence database, we highlight geographic areas of concern and potential areas to target further sampling. We also discuss methodological developments that will facilitate clinical and field-based interventions to improve human and wildlife health based on this eco-evolutionary perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Voinson
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
| | - Charles L Nunn
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
- Duke Global Health, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
| | - Amy Goldberg
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
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7
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Huang S, Farrell M, Stephens PR. Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200350. [PMID: 34538145 PMCID: PMC8450632 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shan Huang
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Maxwell Farrell
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Patrick R. Stephens
- Odum School of Ecology and Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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8
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Farrell MJ, Park AW, Cressler CE, Dallas T, Huang S, Mideo N, Morales-Castilla I, Davies TJ, Stephens P. The ghost of hosts past: impacts of host extinction on parasite specificity. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200351. [PMID: 34538147 PMCID: PMC8450631 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of research is focused on the extinction of parasite species in response to host endangerment and declines. Beyond the loss of parasite species richness, host extinction can impact apparent parasite host specificity, as measured by host richness or the phylogenetic distances among hosts. Such impacts on the distribution of parasites across the host phylogeny can have knock-on effects that may reshape the adaptation of both hosts and parasites, ultimately shifting the evolutionary landscape underlying the potential for emergence and the evolution of virulence across hosts. Here, we examine how the reshaping of host phylogenies through extinction may impact the host specificity of parasites, and offer examples from historical extinctions, present-day endangerment, and future projections of biodiversity loss. We suggest that an improved understanding of the impact of host extinction on contemporary host-parasite interactions may shed light on core aspects of disease ecology, including comparative studies of host specificity, virulence evolution in multi-host parasite systems, and future trajectories for host and parasite biodiversity. This article is part of the theme issue 'Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell J. Farrell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Clayton E. Cressler
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
| | - Tad Dallas
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA
| | - Shan Huang
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nicole Mideo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ignacio Morales-Castilla
- Universidad de Alcalá, GloCEE - Global Change Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - T. Jonathan Davies
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4
- Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, African Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa
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De Baets K, Huntley JW, Scarponi D, Klompmaker AA, Skawina A. Phanerozoic parasitism and marine metazoan diversity: dilution versus amplification. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200366. [PMID: 34538136 PMCID: PMC8450635 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that biodiversity mediates parasite prevalence. We have compiled the first global database on occurrences and prevalence of marine parasitism throughout the Phanerozoic and assess the relationship with biodiversity to test if there is support for amplification or dilution of parasitism at the macroevolutionary scale. Median prevalence values by era are 5% for the Paleozoic, 4% for the Mesozoic, and a significant increase to 10% for the Cenozoic. We calculated period-level shareholder quorum sub-sampled (SQS) estimates of mean sampled diversity, three-timer (3T) origination rates, and 3T extinction rates for the most abundant host clades in the Paleobiology Database to compare to both occurrences of parasitism and the more informative parasite prevalence values. Generalized linear models (GLMs) of parasite occurrences and SQS diversity measures support both the amplification (all taxa pooled, crinoids and blastoids, and molluscs) and dilution hypotheses (arthropods, cnidarians, and bivalves). GLMs of prevalence and SQS diversity measures support the amplification hypothesis (all taxa pooled and molluscs). Though likely scale-dependent, parasitism has increased through the Phanerozoic and clear patterns primarily support the amplification of parasitism with biodiversity in the history of life. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth De Baets
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Fachgruppe PaläoUmwelt, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstraße 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - John Warren Huntley
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, 101 Geological Sciences Building, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Daniele Scarponi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato 1, 40131 Bologna, Italy
| | - Adiël A Klompmaker
- Department of Museum Research and Collections and Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama, Box 870340, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
| | - Aleksandra Skawina
- Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
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10
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Herrera JP, Moody J, Nunn CL. Predictions of primate-parasite coextinction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200355. [PMID: 34538137 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Future biodiversity loss threatens the integrity of complex ecological associations, including among hosts and parasites. Almost half of primate species are threatened with extinction, and the loss of threatened hosts could negatively impact parasite associations and ecosystem functions. If endangered hosts are highly connected in host-parasite networks, then future host extinctions will also drive parasite extinctions, destabilizing ecological networks. If threatened hosts are not highly connected, however, then network structure should not be greatly affected by the loss of threatened hosts. Networks with high connectance, modularity, nestedness and robustness are more resilient to perturbations such as the loss of interactions than sparse, nonmodular and non-nested networks. We analysed the interaction network involving 213 primates and 763 parasites and removed threatened primates (114 species) to simulate the effects of extinction. Our analyses revealed that connections to 23% of primate parasites (176 species) may be lost if threatened primates go extinct. In addition, measures of network structure were affected, but in varying ways because threatened hosts have fewer parasite interactions than non-threatened hosts. These results reveal that host extinctions will perturb the host-parasite network and potentially lead to secondary extinctions of parasites. The ecological consequences of these extinctions remain unclear. This article is part of the theme issue 'Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe'.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Herrera
- Duke Lemur Center SAVA Conservation, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - James Moody
- Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Charles L Nunn
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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