PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Andreas Eilersen AU - Kim Sneppen TI - Disease as an evolutionary weapon AID - 10.1101/721506 DP - 2019 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 721506 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/01/721506.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/01/721506.full AB - Disease and predation are both highly important in ecology, yet their interplay has received little attention from biophysicists. Here, we analyse a model of a predator-prey system with disease in both prey and predator populations and determine reasonable parameter values using allometric mass scaling relations. We find that if the predator is a specialist, epidemics frequently drive the predator species to extinction. If the predator has an additional, immune prey species, predators will usually survive. Coexistence of predator and disease is impossible in the single-prey model. We conclude that for the prey species, carrying a pathogen can be an effective weapon against predators, and that being a generalist is a major advantage for a predator.