Data from: Opposite effects of anthelmintic treatment on microbial infection at individual versus population scales

Parasitic worms modulate host immune responses in ways that affect microbial co-infections. For this reason, anthelmintic therapy may be a potent tool for indirectly controlling microbial pathogens. However, the population-level consequences of this type of intervention on co-infecting microbes are unknown. We evaluated the effects of anthelmintic treatment on bovine tuberculosis (BTB) acquisition, mortality after infection, and pathogen fitness in free-ranging African buffalo. We found that treatment had no effect on the probability of BTB infection, but buffalo survival after infection was ninefold higher among treated individuals. These contrasting effects translated into an approximately eightfold increase in the reproductive number of BTB for anthelmintic-treated compared with untreated buffalo. Our results indicate that anthelmintic treatment can enhance the spread of microbial pathogens in some real-world situations.寄生蠕虫（Parasitic worms）可通过调控宿主免疫反应的方式影响微生物共感染（microbial co-infections）进程。正因如此，驱虫治疗（anthelmintic therapy）或可成为间接控制微生物病原体的有效手段。然而，此类干预手段对共感染微生物的种群层面效应尚不明确。本研究针对自由活动的非洲水牛，评估了驱虫治疗对牛结核病（bovine tuberculosis, BTB）感染率、感染后死亡率以及病原体适合度的影响。研究发现，驱虫治疗对牛结核病的感染概率无显著作用，但经治疗的水牛在感染后的存活率提升了9倍。这种差异化效应使得经驱虫治疗的水牛群体中，牛结核病的再生数（reproductive number）较未治疗群体提升约8倍。本研究结果表明，在部分实际场景中，驱虫治疗可促进微生物病原体的传播扩散。