Increased avian diversity is associated with lower incidence of human West Nile infection: observation of the dilution effect.

ABSTRACT: Recent infectious disease models illustrate a suite of mechanisms that can result in lower incidence of disease in areas of higher disease host diversity--the 'dilution effect'. These models are particularly applicable to human zoonoses, which are infectious diseases of wildlife that spill over into human populations. As many recent emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses, the mechanisms that underlie the 'dilution effect' are potentially widely applicable and could contribute greatly to our understanding of a suite of diseases. The dilution effect has largely been observed in the context of Lyme disease and the predictions of the underlying models have rarely been examined for other infectious diseases on a broad geographic scale. Here, we explored whether the dilution effect can be obs

SUBMITTER: Swaddle JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2427181 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature