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Erin Lehmer Coauthors Article Published in Journal of Mammalogy
In spring 2015, Dr. Erin Lehmer and coauthors had their article, “The roles of community diversity and contact rates on pathogen prevalence,” published in the Journal of Mammalogy (Volume 96, Issue 1).
About the Article
Dr. Lehmer and her colleagues have completed long-term field studies in order to determine what ecological and behavioral factors lead to increased prevalence of Sin Nombre virus, a hantavirus, in deer mouse populations. Their results indicate that a small number of “bold” deer mice are responsible for the majority of contacts with other deer mice and may be responsible for the majority of new infections with Sin Nombre virus in a population. In addition, the researchers found that biodiversity acts to reduce the prevalence of Sin Nombre virus, with communities containing a large number of small mammal species having considerably lower prevalence of Sin Nombre virus compared to communities with a small number of small mammal species. The results of the studies have implications for pathogen management in wildlife and humans.
Dr. Lehmer Explains the Article
“Our results indicate that, similar to humans, some individuals in a population are more likely to transmit infections than others—think of ‘Typhoid Mary’ in the deer mouse world,” says Dr. Lehmer. “These deer mice tend to be bigger, older and more aggressive than others. Results of our research also demonstrate the protective effect that biodiversity has on reducing prevalence of infectious diseases in wild animals. This is important because when prevalence of disease in wildlife increases, so does the likelihood of human infection with the disease. Thus, by reducing biodiversity through human activities like road construction and housing developments, we are increasing the likelihood of human infection with zoonotic diseases (diseases carried by animals that can be transmitted to people).”