Data from: Age-specific infectious period shapes dynamics of pneumonia in bighorn sheep

Superspreading, the phenomenon where a small proportion of individuals
contribute disproportionately to new infections, has profound effects on
disease dynamics. Superspreading can arise through variation in contacts,
infectiousness or infectious periods. The latter has received little
attention, yet it drives the dynamics of many diseases of critical public
health, livestock health and conservation concern. Here, we present rare
evidence of variation in infectious periods underlying a superspreading
phenomenon in a free-ranging wildlife system. We detected persistent
infections of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, the primary causative agent of
pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), in a small number of older
individuals that were homozygous at an immunologically relevant genetic
locus. Interactions among age-structure, genetic composition and
infectious periods may drive feedbacks in disease dynamics that determine
the magnitude of population response to infection. Accordingly, variation
in initial conditions may explain divergent population responses to
infection that range from recovery to catastrophic decline and
extirpation.