Estimating pathogen-spillover risk using host-ectoparasite interactions.

ABSTRACT: Pathogen spillover corresponds to the transmission of a pathogen or parasite from an original host species to a novel host species, preluding disease emergence. Understanding the interacting factors that lead to pathogen transmission in a zoonotic cycle could help identify novel hosts of pathogens and the patterns that lead to disease emergence. We hypothesize that ecological and biogeographic factors drive host encounters, infection susceptibility, and cross-species spillover transmission. Using a rodent-ectoparasite system in the Neotropics, with shared ectoparasite associations as a proxy for ecological interaction between rodent species, we assessed relationships between rodents using geographic range, phylogenetic relatedness, and ectoparasite associations to determine the roles of ge

SUBMITTER: Brennan RN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11184285 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature