Waning of Maternal Immunity and the Impact of Diseases: the Example of Myxomatosis in Natural Rabbit Populations.
From: UMR-CNRS 5558, Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France. david.fouchet@ens.fr
Journal of theoretical biology
- Publish Date: Sep 2006
- ISSN: 0022-5193
- Volume: 242
- Issue: 1
- Pages: 81-9
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Fouchet D, Marchandeau S, Langlais M, et al. Waning of Maternal Immunity and the Impact of Diseases: the Example of Myxomatosis in Natural Rabbit Populations.. J. Theor. Biol. Sep 2006;242:81-9
Abstract
Myxomatosis is a leporipoxvirus that infects the european rabbit, inducing a high mortality rate. Observations lead us to hypothesize that a rabbit carrying maternal antibodies (or having recovered) can be infected (or re-infected) upon being exposed (or re-exposed) to the virus. Infection will lead to mild disease, boosting host immune protection. Using a modelling approach we show that this phenomenon may lead to a difference of impact of myxomatosis according to its transmission rate. Young are exposed when they still carry maternal antibodies and develop a mild disease in high transmission populations. Our results show that the impact of myxomatosis is generally higher in epidemic situations compared to populations where the virus circulates all the year. As a consequence, waning of acquired immunity and the continuous supply of newborn along the year may reduce the impact of the disease.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Aging, Animals, Disease Outbreaks, Endemic Diseases, Immunity, Maternally-Acquired, Models, Biological, Myxomatosis, Infectious, Rabbits, Recurrence
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 16580697
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