Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hatfield, Herts AL9 7TA, UK.
Prev Vet Med. 2011 Aug 1;101(1-2):113-20. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.05.006. Epub 2011 Jun 16.
Empirical studies that integrate information on host contact patterns with infectious disease transmission over time are rare. The aims of this study were to determine the relative importance of intra-group social interactions in the transmission of tuberculosis (TB; Mycobacterium bovis infection) in a population of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in South Africa, and to use this information to propose an evidence-based intervention strategy to manage this disease. Detailed behavioural observations of all members of eight meerkat groups (n=134 individuals) were made over 24 months from January 2006 to December 2007. Social network analysis of three types of interaction (aggression, foraging competitions and grooming) revealed social structure to be very stable over time. Clustering of interactions was positively correlated with group size for both aggression (r=0.73) and grooming interactions (r=0.71), suggesting that infections may spread locally within clusters of interacting individuals but be limited from infecting all members of large groups by an apparent threshold in connections between different clusters. Repeated biological sampling every three months of all members of one social group (n=37 meerkats) was undertaken to quantify individual changes in M. bovis infection status. These empirical data were used to construct a dynamic network model of TB transmission within a meerkat group. The results indicated that grooming (both giving and receiving) was more likely than aggression to be correlated with M. bovis transmission and that groomers were at higher risk of infection than groomees. Intervention strategies for managing TB in meerkats that focus on those individuals engaging in the highest amount of grooming are therefore proposed.
实证研究将宿主接触模式的信息与传染病的时间传播相结合的情况很少见。本研究的目的是确定南非野生猫鼬（Suricata suricatta）群体中群体内社会互动在结核病（TB；牛分枝杆菌感染）传播中的相对重要性，并利用这些信息提出一种基于证据的干预策略来管理这种疾病。在 2006 年 1 月至 2007 年 12 月的 24 个月中，对 8 个猫鼬群体（n=134 只个体）的所有成员进行了详细的行为观察。三种类型的互动（攻击、觅食竞争和梳理）的社会网络分析显示，社会结构在很长一段时间内非常稳定。互动的聚类与攻击（r=0.73）和梳理互动（r=0.71）的群体大小呈正相关，这表明感染可能在相互作用的个体集群内局部传播，但由于不同集群之间的连接存在明显的阈值，感染可能不会传播到大型群体的所有成员。对一个社会群体的所有成员（n=37 只猫鼬）每三个月进行一次重复的生物采样，以量化个体的 M. bovis 感染状态变化。这些经验数据用于构建猫鼬群体内 TB 传播的动态网络模型。结果表明，梳理（给予和接受）比攻击更有可能与 M. bovis 的传播相关，梳理者比接受梳理者感染的风险更高。因此，提出了针对猫鼬管理 TB 的干预策略，重点是那些参与梳理最多的个体。
