Impacts of sequential and simultaneous coinfection by major amphibian pathogens on disease outcomes

In natural environments, hosts frequently experience infections from multiple pathogenic species or strains, significantly influencing disease dynamics. Despite shared susceptible hosts and overlapping distributions, the impacts of coinfections by the two most threatening global amphibian pathogens, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Ranavirus (Rv), remain largely understudied. This study offers new insights into how simultaneous and sequential exposures to Bd and Rv influence disease outcomes in an amphibian host under controlled experimental conditions. Our findings reveal that the sequence and timing of pathogen exposure can lead to contrasting outcomes. Animals previously exposed to Rv displayed the highest mortality after subsequent Bd infection, whereas simultaneous exposure to both pathogens resulted in higher survival compared to single infections. These findings suggest that priority effects, driven by differences in the timing and order of pathogen exposure, can exacerbat..., , , DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

File List:

1. ce_perfrog.csv
2. Bd_Rv_Coinfection_Code.Rmd

Relationship between files:
Use file number 1 to run R code number 2.

DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: ce_perfrog.csv

Number of variables: 18

Number of rows: 54

Variable List:

1. ID: Frog identification number.
2. treatment: Experimental treatments or control group. Bd - animals were exposed to Bd only. Rv - animals were exposed to Rv only. Bd+Rv - animals were exposed to both Bd and Rv simultaneously; BdRv - animals were first exposed to Bd, and then to Rv in the second exposure; RvBd - animals were first exposed to Rv, and then to Bd in the second exposure; and ctr - control group.
3. censor: 1 when the frog died, and 0 when it survived until the end of the experiment.
4. death_day: Values reflect the number of days until death, (unit: days).
5. death_post_Bd: Values reflect the number of days until death after Bd exposure, (unit: days).
6. sex: F - Female, M - Male
7. fitness_d0: Values reflect the ...,