Transmission dynamics of an emerging infectious disease in wildlife through host reproductive cycles |
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| Authors: | Kimiko Uchii Arndt Telschow Toshifumi Minamoto Hiroki Yamanaka Mie N Honjo Kazuaki Matsui Zen'ichiro Kawabata |
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| Affiliation: | 1.Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan;2.Department of General Systems Studies, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan;3.Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfalian Wilhelms University, Muenster, Germany;4.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kinki University, Higashiosaka, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Emerging infectious diseases are major threats to wildlife populations. To enhance our understanding of the dynamics of these diseases, we investigated how host reproductive behavior and seasonal temperature variation drive transmission of infections among wild hosts, using the model system of cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) disease in common carp. Our main findings were as follows: (1) a seroprevalence survey showed that CyHV-3 infection occurred mostly in adult hosts, (2) a quantitative assay for CyHV-3 in a host population demonstrated that CyHV-3 was most abundant in the spring when host reproduction occurred and water temperature increased simultaneously and (3) an analysis of the dynamics of CyHV-3 in water revealed that CyHV-3 concentration increased markedly in breeding habitats during host group mating. These results indicate that breeding habitats can become hot spots for transmission of infectious diseases if hosts aggregate for mating and the activation of pathogens occurs during the host breeding season. |
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| Keywords: | breeding habitat common carp CyHV-3 cyprinid herpes virus 3 Cyprinus carpio seroprevalence |
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