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A transmissible cancer shifts from emergence to endemism in Tasmanian devils
Citation
Patton, AH and Lawrance, MF and Margres, MJ and Kozakiewicz, CP and Hamede, R and Ruiz Aravena, M and Hamilton, DG and Comte, S and Ricci, LE and Taylor, RL and Stadler, T and Leache, A and McCallum, H and Jones, ME and Hohenlohe, PA and Storfer, A, A transmissible cancer shifts from emergence to endemism in Tasmanian devils, Science, 370, (6522) Article eabb9772. ISSN 0036-8075 (2020) [Refereed Article]
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DOI: doi:10.1126/science.abb9772
Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases pose one of the greatest threats to human health and biodiversity. Phylodynamics is often used to infer epidemiological parameters essential for guiding intervention strategies for human viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). Here, we applied phylodynamics to elucidate the epidemiological dynamics of Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a fatal, transmissible cancer with a genome thousands of times larger than that of any virus. Despite prior predictions of devil extinction, transmission rates have declined precipitously from ~3.5 secondary infections per infected individual to ~1.5 at present. Thus, DFTD appears to be transitioning from emergence to endemism, lending hope for the continued survival of the endangered Tasmanian devil. More generally, our study demonstrates a new phylodynamic analytical framework that can be applied to virtually any pathogen.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Tasmanian devil, disease, DFTD, phylodynamics, epidemiology |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Genetics |
| Research Field: | Genomics |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments |
| UTAS Author: | Hamede, R (Dr Rodrigo Hamede Ross) |
| UTAS Author: | Ruiz Aravena, M (Mr Manuel Ruiz Aravena) |
| UTAS Author: | Hamilton, DG (Mr David Hamilton) |
| UTAS Author: | Comte, S (Mr Sebastien Comte) |
| UTAS Author: | Taylor, RL (Ms Robyn Taylor) |
| UTAS Author: | Jones, ME (Professor Menna Jones) |
| ID Code: | 142305 |
| Year Published: | 2020 |
| Deposited By: | Zoology |
| Deposited On: | 2021-01-07 |
| Last Modified: | 2021-01-13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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