Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T00:43:15.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Experimental studies of infection dynamics: infection of the definitive host by the cercariae of Transversotrema patialense

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

R. M. Anderson
Affiliation:
King's College, London University, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
P. J. Whitfield
Affiliation:
King's College, London University, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
A. P. Dobson
Affiliation:
King's College, London University, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Summary

The number of cercariae of Transversotrema patialense which attach to the fish host Brachydanio rerio, during a fixed exposure period, is shown to be directly proportional to cercarial density within an experimental infection arena. The distribution of successful infections/host is shown to change from a random pattern to an over-dispersed form as cercarial exposure density or duration of host exposure to infection increases. A stochastic simulation model is used to demonstrate that small differences in host susceptibility to infection, within a population of hosts, can generate patterns of dispersion in parasite numbers/host similar to those observed in the experimental studies. Differences in host behaviour, during the period of exposure to infection, are thought to generate variability in host susceptibility to cercarial infection.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFFERENCES

Anderson, R. M. (1974). Population dynamics of the cestode Caryophyllaeus laticeps (Pallas, 1781) in the bream (Abramis brama L.). Journal of Animal Ecology 43, 305–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. M. (1978). The regulation of host population growth by parasitic species. Parasitology 76, 119–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, R. M. & May, R. M. (1978). Regulation and stability of host-parasite population interactions. I. Regulatory processes. Journal of Animal Ecology (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. M. & Whitfield, P. J. (1975). Survival characteristics of the free-living cercarial population of the ectoparasitic digenean, Transversotrema patialense. Parasitology 70, 295310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. M., Whitfield, P. J., Dobson, A. P. & Keymer, A. E. (1978). Concomitant predation and infection: an experimental study. Journal of Animal Ecology (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boswell, M. T. & Patil, G. P. (1970). Chance mechanisms generating the negative binomial distribution. In Random Counts in Models and Structures (ed. Patil, G. P.). University Park, Pennsylvania and London: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Boxshall, G. A. (1974). The population dynamics of Lepeophtherius pectoralis (Muller): dispersion pattern. Parasitology 69, 373–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, D. J. & May, R. M. (1978). Consequences of helminth aggregation for the dynamics of schistosomiasis. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buxton, P. A. (1940). Studies on populations of head-lice (Pediculus humanus capitis Anoplura). III. Material from South India. Parasitology 32, 296302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, L. C. (1949). The measurement of interspecific association. Ecology 30, 411–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, D. R. & Miller, H. D. (1965). The theory of Stochastic Processes. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Crofton, H. D. (1971 a). A quantitative approach to parasitism. Parasitology 62, 179–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crofton, H. D. (1971 b). A model of host–parasite relationships. Parasitology 63, 343–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankland, H. M. T. (1954). The life history and bionomics of Diclidophora denticulata (Trematoda: Monogenea). Parasitology 45, 313–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, S. Y. & Hsu, H. F. (1951). On the frequency distribution of helminths in their naturally infected hosts. Journal of Parasitology 37, 3241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
May, R. M. (1977). Dynamical aspects of host-parasite associations: Crofton's model revisited. Parasitology 75, 259–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
May, R. M. & Anderson, R. M. (1978). Regulation and stability of host-parasite population interactions. II. Destabilising processes. Journal of Animal Ecology (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Northam, J. I. & Rocha, U. F. (1958). On the statistical analysis of worm counts in chickens. Experimental Parasitology 7, 428–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennycuick, L. (1971). Frequency distributions of parasites in a population of three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., with particular reference to the negative binomial distribution. Parasitology 63, 389406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pielou, E. C. (1969). An Introduction to Mathematical Ecology. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Randolph, S. E. (1975). Patterns of distribution of the tick Ixodes trianguliceps Birula, on its host. Journal of Animal Ecology 44, 451–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmid, W. P. & Robinson, E. J. (1972). The pattern of host-parasite distribution. Journal of Parasitology 57, 907–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watkins, C. V. & Harvey, L. A. (1942). On the parasites of silver foxes on some farms in the South West. Parasitology 34, 155–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, I. C. (1963). The infestations of the redfish Sebastes marinus (L.) and S. mentella Travin (Scleroparei: Scorpaenidae) by the copeopods, Peniculus clavatus (Müller), Sphyrion lumpi (Krøyer) and Chondraconthopsis nodosus (Müller) in the eastern North Atlantic. Parasitology 53, 501–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar