Hosts, infections, co-inections and vicious circles.

BEGON, M; TELFER, S; BELDOMENICO, PM

Mendoza

Congreso; X International Mammalogy Congress; 2009

The University of Liverpool Infectious diseases of wild mammals have been neglected generally, but even more thoroughly neglected has been an acknowledgement that hosts are often coinfected by a range of pathogens and parasites. Indeed, these coinfecting pathogens may interact with one another, and the effects of these infections and coinfections may themselves depend on the underlying condition of the host. Here patterns of coinfection are examined in natural populations of field voles, Microtus agrestis, the mechanisms underlying these patterns are explored, and a vicious circle between host condition and infection elaborated