Multihost Bartonella parasites display covert host specificity even when transmitted by generalist vectors.

ABSTRACT: Many parasites infect multiple sympatric host species, and there is a general assumption that parasite transmission between co-occurring host species is commonplace. Such between-species transmission could be key to parasite persistence within a disease reservoir and is consequently an emerging focus for disease control. However, while a growing body of theory indicates the potential importance of between-species transmission for parasite persistence, conclusive empirical evidence from natural communities is lacking, and the assumption that between-species transmission is inevitable may therefore be wrong. We investigated the occurrence of between-species transmission in a well-studied multihost parasite system. We identified the flea-borne Bartonella parasites infecting sympatric populati

SUBMITTER: Withenshaw SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5082552 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature