Direct and indirect costs of co-infection in the wild: Linking gastrointestinal parasite communities, host hematology, and immune function.

ABSTRACT: Most animals are concurrently infected with multiple parasites, and interactions among these parasites may influence both disease dynamics and host fitness. However, the sublethal costs of parasite infections are difficult to measure and the effects of concomitant infections with multiple parasite species on individual physiology and fitness are poorly described for wild hosts. To understand the direct and indirect physiological costs of co-infection, we investigated the relationships among gastrointestinal parasite richness, species identity, and abundance and host hematological parameters, body condition, and investment in lymphocyte defenses. Using aggregate-scale parasite data from African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), we found few direct or indirect associations between infection and hem

SUBMITTER: Budischak SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3904086 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature