Maternal antibody and the maintenance of a lyssavirus in populations of seasonally breeding African bats.

ABSTRACT: Pathogens causing acute disease and death or lasting immunity require specific spatial or temporal processes to persist in populations. Host traits, such as maternally-derived antibody (MDA) and seasonal birthing affect infection maintenance within populations. Our study objective is to understand how viral and host traits lead to population level infection persistence when the infection can be fatal. We collected data on African fruit bats and a rabies-related virus, Lagos bat virus (LBV), including through captive studies. We incorporate these data into a mechanistic model of LBV transmission to determine how host traits, including MDA and seasonal birthing, and viral traits, such as incubation periods, interact to allow fatal viruses to persist within bat populations. Captive bat studie

SUBMITTER: Hayman DTS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5997331 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature