Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.

Catastrophic declines in African great ape populations due to disease outbreaks have been reported in recent years, yet we rarely hear of similar disease impacts for the more solitary Asian great apes, or for smaller primates. We used an age-structured model of different primate social systems to il...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sadie J Ryan, James H Jones, Andrew P Dobson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24204688/?tool=EBI
_version_ 1818459637898280960
author Sadie J Ryan
James H Jones
Andrew P Dobson
author_facet Sadie J Ryan
James H Jones
Andrew P Dobson
author_sort Sadie J Ryan
collection DOAJ
description Catastrophic declines in African great ape populations due to disease outbreaks have been reported in recent years, yet we rarely hear of similar disease impacts for the more solitary Asian great apes, or for smaller primates. We used an age-structured model of different primate social systems to illustrate that interactions between social structure and demography create 'dynamic constraints' on the pathogens that can establish and persist in primate host species with different social systems. We showed that this varies by disease transmission mode. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) require high rates of transmissibility to persist within a primate population. In particular, for a unimale social system, STIs require extremely high rates of transmissibility for persistence, and remain at extremely low prevalence in small primates, but this is less constrained in longer-lived, larger-bodied primates. In contrast, aerosol transmitted infections (ATIs) spread and persist at high prevalence in medium and large primates with moderate transmissibility;, establishment and persistence in small-bodied primates require higher relative rates of transmissibility. Intragroup contact structure - the social network - creates different constraints for different transmission modes, and our model underscores the importance of intragroup contacts on infection prior to intergroup movement in a structured population. When alpha males dominate sexual encounters, the resulting disease transmission dynamics differ from when social interactions are dominated by mother-infant grooming events, for example. This has important repercussions for pathogen spread across populations. Our framework reveals essential social and demographic characteristics of primates that predispose them to different disease risks that will be important for disease management and conservation planning for protected primate populations.
first_indexed 2024-12-14T23:17:32Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d422da5a8b7046b6a1a638f471496acc
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-14T23:17:32Z
publishDate 2013-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-d422da5a8b7046b6a1a638f471496acc2022-12-21T22:44:02ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-01810e7686310.1371/journal.pone.0076863Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.Sadie J RyanJames H JonesAndrew P DobsonCatastrophic declines in African great ape populations due to disease outbreaks have been reported in recent years, yet we rarely hear of similar disease impacts for the more solitary Asian great apes, or for smaller primates. We used an age-structured model of different primate social systems to illustrate that interactions between social structure and demography create 'dynamic constraints' on the pathogens that can establish and persist in primate host species with different social systems. We showed that this varies by disease transmission mode. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) require high rates of transmissibility to persist within a primate population. In particular, for a unimale social system, STIs require extremely high rates of transmissibility for persistence, and remain at extremely low prevalence in small primates, but this is less constrained in longer-lived, larger-bodied primates. In contrast, aerosol transmitted infections (ATIs) spread and persist at high prevalence in medium and large primates with moderate transmissibility;, establishment and persistence in small-bodied primates require higher relative rates of transmissibility. Intragroup contact structure - the social network - creates different constraints for different transmission modes, and our model underscores the importance of intragroup contacts on infection prior to intergroup movement in a structured population. When alpha males dominate sexual encounters, the resulting disease transmission dynamics differ from when social interactions are dominated by mother-infant grooming events, for example. This has important repercussions for pathogen spread across populations. Our framework reveals essential social and demographic characteristics of primates that predispose them to different disease risks that will be important for disease management and conservation planning for protected primate populations.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24204688/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Sadie J Ryan
James H Jones
Andrew P Dobson
Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.
PLoS ONE
title Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.
title_full Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.
title_fullStr Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.
title_full_unstemmed Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.
title_short Interactions between social structure, demography, and transmission determine disease persistence in primates.
title_sort interactions between social structure demography and transmission determine disease persistence in primates
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24204688/?tool=EBI
work_keys_str_mv AT sadiejryan interactionsbetweensocialstructuredemographyandtransmissiondeterminediseasepersistenceinprimates
AT jameshjones interactionsbetweensocialstructuredemographyandtransmissiondeterminediseasepersistenceinprimates
AT andrewpdobson interactionsbetweensocialstructuredemographyandtransmissiondeterminediseasepersistenceinprimates