通过实验和理论方法的结合，研究人员揭示了高度传染性的口蹄疫病毒如何在非洲水牛体内持续存在，非洲水牛是它们的野生动物宿主。研究人员发现，仅通过急性感染宿主之间的传播，病毒的持续存在是不可能的。然而，如果将持续感染的携带者的偶尔传播包括在内，就能可靠地将最具传染性的病毒株从消退中拯救出来。其他机制，如抗原转移、免疫力丧失或在宿主种群中的溢出，可能是传播性较差的毒株持续存在的必要条件。
据介绍，极具传染性的病原体是一个全球性的生物安全威胁，因为它们的发病率和死亡率都很高，而且它们有能力快速流动的流行病，难以平息。因此，了解使高度传播的病原体在宿主种群中持续存在的机制是疾病生态学的一个核心问题。
附：英文原文
Title: Endemic persistence of a highly contagious pathogen: Foot-and-mouth disease in its wildlife host
Author: Anna Jolles, Erin Gorsich, Simon Gubbins, Brianna Beechler, Peter Buss, Nick Juleff, Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist, Francois Maree, Eva Perez-Martin, O.L. van Schalkwyk, Katherine Scott, Fuquan Zhang, Jan Medlock, Bryan Charleston
Issue&Volume: 2021-10-01
Abstract: Extremely contagious pathogens are a global biosecurity threat because of their high burden of morbidity and mortality, as well as their capacity for fast-moving epidemics that are difficult to quell. Understanding the mechanisms enabling persistence of highly transmissible pathogens in host populations is thus a central problem in disease ecology. Through a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches, we investigated how highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease viruses persist in the African buffalo, which serves as their wildlife reservoir. We found that viral persistence through transmission among acutely infected hosts alone is unlikely. However, the inclusion of occasional transmission from persistently infected carriers reliably rescues the most infectious viral strain from fade-out. Additional mechanisms such as antigenic shift, loss of immunity, or spillover among host populations may be required for persistence of less transmissible strains.
DOI: abd2475
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd2475