Exposure and susceptibility drive reinfection with gastrointestinal parasites in a social primate

1. Increased risk of infectious disease transmission has been proposed as one major cost of group living. While factors corresponding to transmission via exposure to infectious stages and susceptibility to infections upon contact are relatively well understood, both aspects are rarely investigated simultaneously.
2. Here, we assessed the influence of exposure and susceptibility measures on strongyle nematode reinfection after experimental deworming of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) (n=57). We investigated impacts of behaviour (social bonds, grooming and ground use) and physiology (faecal glucocorticoids, urinary C-Peptides, urinary neopterin, gastrointestinal [GI] helminth coinfection) on the likelihood of reinfection, using patch occupancy modelling and information theoretic model selection to determine the best models predicting reinfection patterns.
3. Coinfection was the most consistent risk factor, spending time on presumably contaminated soil, interacting with many partners ...

1. 群体生活的主要代价之一被认为是传染病传播风险升高。尽管学界已相对清晰地阐明了通过接触病原体感染阶段而发生传播的相关影响因素，以及接触后对感染的易感性相关因素，但目前极少有研究同时对这两个维度展开探究。
2. 本研究针对57只巴巴利猕猴（Barbary macaques，Macaca sylvanus，n=57）开展实验性驱虫，探究了暴露水平与易感性相关指标对圆线虫（strongyle nematode）再感染的影响。我们采用斑块占用模型（patch occupancy modelling）与信息论模型选择法筛选最优预测模型，以此分析行为因素（社会纽带、梳毛行为与地面活动）及生理因素（粪便糖皮质激素、尿C肽、尿新蝶呤、胃肠道[GI]蠕虫共感染）对再感染概率的作用。
3. 共感染是最具一致性的风险因素，在疑似受污染的土壤上停留时长、与大量同伴互动……