Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK.
Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.
Proc Biol Sci. 2023 Nov 29;290(2011):20231900. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1900. Epub 2023 Nov 15.
Vector-borne pathogens, many of which cause major suffering worldwide, often circulate in diverse wildlife communities comprising multiple reservoir host and/or vector species. However, the complexities of these systems make it challenging to determine the contributions these different species make to transmission. We experimentally manipulated transmission within a natural multihost-multipathogen-multivector system, by blocking flea-borne pathogen transmission from either of two co-occurring host species (bank voles and wood mice). Through genetic analysis of the resulting infections in the hosts and vectors, we show that both host species likely act together to maintain the overall flea community, but cross-species pathogen transmission is relatively rare-most pathogens were predominantly found in only one host species, and there were few cases where targeted treatment affected pathogens in the other host species. However, we do provide experimental evidence of some reservoir-spillover dynamics whereby reductions of some infections in one host species are achieved by blocking transmission from the other host species. Overall, despite the apparent complexity of such systems, we show there can be 'covert simplicity', whereby pathogen transmission is primarily dominated by single host species, potentially facilitating the targeting of key hosts for control, even in diverse ecological communities.
虫媒病原体，其中许多在全球范围内造成严重的痛苦，经常在包含多个储主和/或媒介物种的多种野生动物群落中传播。然而，这些系统的复杂性使得确定这些不同物种对传播的贡献具有挑战性。我们通过阻断两种共存宿主（银行田鼠和林鼠）的跳蚤传播，在自然多宿主-多病原体-多媒介系统中对传播进行了实验性操纵。通过对宿主和媒介中感染的遗传分析，我们表明两种宿主物种可能共同作用以维持整个跳蚤群落，但跨物种病原体传播相对较少-大多数病原体主要存在于一种宿主物种中，在少数情况下，有针对性的治疗会影响另一种宿主物种中的病原体。然而，我们确实提供了一些储主溢出动态的实验证据，即通过阻断来自另一种宿主物种的传播，可以减少一种宿主物种中的某些感染。总体而言，尽管此类系统明显复杂，但我们表明存在“隐蔽的简单性”，即病原体传播主要由单个宿主物种主导，这可能有助于针对关键宿主进行控制，即使在多样化的生态群落中也是如此。
