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More than a flying syringe: Using functional traits in vector borne disease research

View ORCID ProfileLauren J. Cator, Leah R Johnson, Erin A. Mordecai, Fadoua El Moustaid, Thomas Smallwood, Shannon La Deau, Michael Johansson, Peter J Hudson, Michael Boots, Matthew B. Thomas, Alison G. Power, Samraat Pawar
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/501320
Lauren J. Cator
1Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park,
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  • ORCID record for Lauren J. Cator
  • For correspondence: l.cator@imperial.ac.uk l.cator@imperial.ac.uk
Leah R Johnson
2Department of Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
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  • For correspondence: lrjohn@vt.edu
Erin A. Mordecai
3Department of Biology, Stanford University,
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  • For correspondence: emordeca@stanford.edu
Fadoua El Moustaid
4Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
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  • For correspondence: fadoua@vt.edu
Thomas Smallwood
5Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park,
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  • For correspondence: thomas.smallwood14@imperial.ac.uk
Shannon La Deau
6The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies,
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  • For correspondence: ladeaus@caryinstitute.org
Michael Johansson
7CDC Dengue Branch and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,
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  • For correspondence: mjohansson@cdc.gov
Peter J Hudson
8Huck Institutes of Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University,
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  • For correspondence: pjh18@psu.edu
Michael Boots
9Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley,
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  • For correspondence: mboots@berkeley.edu
Matthew B. Thomas
10Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University,
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  • For correspondence: mbt13@psu.edu
Alison G. Power
11Department of Ecology and Evolution, Cornell University,
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  • For correspondence: agp4@cornell.edu
Samraat Pawar
12Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park,
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  • For correspondence: s.pawar@imperial.ac.uk
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Abstract

Vectors are responsible for the transmission of many important endemic and emerging diseases. The functional traits of these animals have important consequences for pathogen transmission, but also for fitness and population dynamics of the vectors themselves. Increasing empirical evidence suggests that vector traits vary significantly at time scales relevant to transmission dynamics. Currently, an understanding of how this variation in key traits impacts transmission is hindered by a lack of empirical data as well theoretical methods as for mechanistically incorporating traits into transmission models. Here, we present a framework for incorporating both intrinsic and environment-driven variation in vector traits into empirical and theoretical vector-borne disease research. This framework mechanistically captures the effect of trait variation on vector fitness, the correlation between vector traits, and how these together determine transmission dynamics. We illustrate how trait-based vector-borne disease modelling can make novel predictions, and identify key steps and challenges in the construction, empirical parameterization and validation of such models. Perhaps most importantly, this framework can also be used to prioritize data collection efforts.

Author Contributions

LJC, SP, LRJ, EM and PJH conceived the study. LJC and SP wrote the manuscript with inputs from MBT, AGP, MB, LRJ, EM, and PJH. SP, LRJ, TS, and FEM developed the mathematical models and worked examples.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 06, 2019.
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More than a flying syringe: Using functional traits in vector borne disease research
Lauren J. Cator, Leah R Johnson, Erin A. Mordecai, Fadoua El Moustaid, Thomas Smallwood, Shannon La Deau, Michael Johansson, Peter J Hudson, Michael Boots, Matthew B. Thomas, Alison G. Power, Samraat Pawar
bioRxiv 501320; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/501320
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More than a flying syringe: Using functional traits in vector borne disease research
Lauren J. Cator, Leah R Johnson, Erin A. Mordecai, Fadoua El Moustaid, Thomas Smallwood, Shannon La Deau, Michael Johansson, Peter J Hudson, Michael Boots, Matthew B. Thomas, Alison G. Power, Samraat Pawar
bioRxiv 501320; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/501320

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