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Michael Cortez (Florida State University, Biological Science)

October 29, 2020 @ 10:40 am - 11:30 am

Michael Cortez

How does interspecific host competition alter the amplification and dilution of disease?

For pathogens that infect multiple host species, the loss or addition of one host species in a community can affect levels of disease in other host species. Using a 2-host, 1-pathogen epidemiological model, I explore how competition for resources between host species alters whether increased host biodiversity increases (amplifies) or decreases (dilutes) disease. First, I use numerical simulations to show that between-host competition promotes dilution for a model parameterized to an empirical system. Second, I generalize this result by analytically showing that increased interspecific competition promotes dilution for pathogens with environmental transmission (e.g., transmission via spores), unless a host has very high excretion rates. Finally, I show how models of environmental transmission and direct transmission (e.g., transmission via contact between infected and healthy hosts) can be unified. This in turn allows me to identify how the pathogen transmission mechanism influences the effects of interspecific competition (e.g., density dependent direct transmission can require the highest levels of competition for dilution). This work is a step towards a unified theory on amplification/dilution of environmentally and directly transmitted pathogens.

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Date:
October 29, 2020
Time:
10:40 am - 11:30 am
Event Category:

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Zoom