User:Buteokween/Wildlife disease

Co-infection in Wildlife
Coinfections occur between worms and bacterial infections, and viruses and bacteria. Parasites can change host immune responses to bacterial infections. Indirectly, anthelminthic treatment can improve the responses to a bacterial or viral infection. An example of this would be the interaction between Bovine Tuberculosis and helminths in Water Buffalo. While the the anti-worming method does increases the overall health of the buffalo, the R0 of Bovine TB actually increases because BTB-positive buffalo are better vectors for the disease.

Parasite Aggregation
Parasite commonly aggregate in wildlife--heterogeneities are common in many disease systems. For, microparasites, usually, 20% of the hosts with the disease pass it on to 80% of the population. Parasites tend to follow similar statistical rules, where 20% of the hosts harbour 80% of the parasites. Host characteristics like behavior, location, and health determine the aggregation of parasites. Tick species tend to feed more heavily on the White-footed Mouse, because of their tendency to use fragmented microhabitats with large tick loads. The black-legged tick, in particular, prefers small fragmented forests, so mice that are concentrated in that area tend to have higher tick loads.

Emerging Infectious Diseases
Many animals, including wildlife, are the vectors for Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID). They are diseases that have newly appeared in a population and are rapidly increasing in a geographic range, or are caused by an NIAID (National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases) A, B. or C pathogen.

Spillover Effects
Pathogen spillover from animal reservoirs to non-reservoir species impacts disease dynamics