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Biting injuries and transmission of Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease
Citation
Hamede, RK and McCallum, HI and Jones, M, Biting injuries and transmission of Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease, Journal of Animal Ecology, 82, (1) pp. 182-190. ISSN 0021-8790 (2013) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2012 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology Copyright 2012 British Ecological Society
DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2012.02025.x
Abstract
- The Tasmanian devil is threatened with extinction by devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), a unique infectious cancer in which the tumour cells themselves, which derive from a single long-dead host devil, are the infective agent and the tumour is an infectious parasitic cell line.
- Transmission is thought to occur via direct inoculation of tumour cells when susceptible and infected individuals bite each other or by fomitic transfer of tumour cells. The nature of transmission and the extent to which biting behaviour and devil ecology is associated with infection risk remains unclear. Until our recent study in north-west Tasmania showed reduced population and individual impacts, DFTD had caused massive population declines in all populations monitored.
- In this paper, we investigate seasonal patterns of injuries resulting from bites between individuals, DFTD infection status and tumour location in two populations to determine whether the number of bites predicts the acquisition of DFTD and to explore the possibility that the reduced impacts of DFTD in north-west Tasmania are attributed to reduced bite rates.
- Devils with fewer bites were more likely to develop DFTD and primary tumours occurred predominantly inside the oral cavity. These results are not consistent with transmission occurring from the biter to the bitten animal but suggest that dominant individuals delivering bites, possibly by biting the tumours of other devils, are at higher risk of acquiring infection than submissive individuals receiving bites. Bite rates, which were higher during autumn and winter, did not differ between sites, suggesting that the reduced population impacts in north-west Tasmania cannot be explained by lower bite rates.
- Our study emphasizes the importance of longitudinal studies of individually marked animals for understanding the ecology and transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and parasites in wild populations.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii, biting patterns, disease ecology, epidemiology, social behaviour, transmissible cancer |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Zoology |
| Research Field: | Animal immunology |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | Hamede, RK (Dr Rodrigo Hamede Ross) |
| UTAS Author: | McCallum, HI (Professor Hamish McCallum) |
| UTAS Author: | Jones, M (Professor Menna Jones) |
| ID Code: | 89907 |
| Year Published: | 2013 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 98 |
| Deposited By: | Zoology |
| Deposited On: | 2014-03-19 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-10-31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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