Contact Networks in a Wildlife-Livestock Host Community: Identifying High-Risk Individuals in the Transmission of Bovine TB among Badgers and Cattle

摘要: Background The management of many pathogens, which are concern to humans and their livestock, is complicated by the pathogens' ability cross-infect multiple host species, including wildlife. This has major implications for such diseases, since dynamics infection dependent on rates both intra- inter-specific transmission. However, difficulty studying transmission networks in free-living populations means that relative opportunities versus disease have not previously been demonstrated empirically within any wildlife-livestock system. Methodology/Principal Findings Using recently-developed proximity data loggers, we quantify intra-and contacts a system, using bovine tuberculosis (bTB) badgers cattle UK as our example. We assess connectedness individuals order identify whether there certain ‘high-risk’ or groups between species. Our results show contact patterns badger vary widely, over time. recorded only infrequent interactions social groups, although all fitted with loggers were involved these inter-group contacts. Contacts occurred more frequently than different groups. Moreover, those individual cows, highly connected herd. Conclusions/Significance This work represents first continuous time record wildlife-host system. The highlight existence specific relatively high livestock wildlife populations, potential act hubs spread through complex networks. Targeting testing preventive measures at high-contact would enhance effectiveness efficiency strategies.