Data from: Contact networks structured by sex underpin sex-specific epidemiology of infection

Contact networks are fundamental to the transmission of infection and host sex often affects the acquisition and progression of infection. However, the epidemiological impacts of sex-related variation in animal contact networks have rarely been investigated. We test the hypothesis that sex-biases in infection are related to variation in multilayer contact networks structured by sex in a population of European badgers Meles meles naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Our key results are that male-male and between-sex networks are structured at broader spatial scales than female-female networks and that in male-male and between-sex contact networks, but not female-female networks, there is a significant relationship between infection and contacts with individuals in other groups. These sex differences in social behaviour may underpin male-biased acquisition of infection and may result in males being responsible for more between-group transmission. This highlights the importance of sex-related variation in host behaviour when managing animal diseases.

接触网络是病原体传播的核心基础，宿主性别通常会影响感染的获得与病程进展。然而，学界极少针对动物接触网络中性别相关差异带来的流行病学影响展开研究。本研究针对自然感染牛分枝杆菌（Mycobacterium bovis）的欧洲獾（Meles meles）种群，检验了“感染的性别偏倚与性别结构化多层接触网络（multilayer contact networks）的差异相关”这一假说。本研究的核心结果显示：雄性-雄性接触网络与跨性别接触网络的空间尺度显著大于雌性-雌性接触网络；且在雄性-雄性、跨性别接触网络（而非雌性-雌性接触网络）中，感染状态与跨群组个体间的接触存在显著关联。这种社交行为的性别差异可能是感染呈现雄性偏倚的基础，同时也可能导致雄性在跨群组传播中承担更主要的角色。这一发现凸显了在动物疫病防控工作中，宿主行为的性别相关差异所具备的重要意义。