Contact-number-driven virus evolution: A multi-level modeling framework for the evolution of acute or persistent RNA virus infection.

ABSTRACT: Viruses evolve in infected host populations, and host population dynamics affect viral evolution. RNA viruses with a short duration of infection and a high peak viral load, such as SARS-CoV-2, are maintained in human populations. By contrast, RNA viruses characterized by a long infection duration and a low peak viral load (e.g., borna disease virus) can be maintained in nonhuman populations, and the process of the evolution of persistent viruses has rarely been explored. Here, using a multi-level modeling approach including both individual-level virus infection dynamics and population-scale transmission, we consider virus evolution based on the host environment, specifically, the effect of the contact history of infected hosts. We found that, with a highly dense contact history, viruses wi

SUBMITTER: Sunagawa J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10256155 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature