Phylodynamics and Human-Mediated Dispersal of a Zoonotic Virus

PLoS Pathogens

Mehdi Elharrak¹  Edward C. Holmes²  Andrew J. Tatem²  Marc A. Suchard³  Hervé Bourhy⁴  Nicholas Campiz⁵  Elbia Abdelatif⁶  Abdellah Faouzi⁷  Nourlil Jalal⁷  Chiraz Talbi⁸  Andrew Rambaut⁹  Juan E. Echevarría^1,10  Sonia Vazquez Morón^1,10  Philippe Lemey^1,11 

[1] Biopharma Laboratoire, Rabbat, Maroc;Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America;Departments of Biomathematics and Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America;Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America;Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America;Institut Pasteur d'Algérie, Laboratoire de la Rage, Recherche et Diagnostic, Alger, Algérie;Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Laboratoire de Virologie Médicale, Casablanca, Maroc;Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Dynamics and Host Adaptation, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, Paris, France;Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, Edinburgh, United Kingdom;Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Servicio de Microbiología Diagnóstica, Madrid, Spain;Rega Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

关键词: Dogs;    Rabies virus;    Algeria;    Morocco;    Spatial epidemiology;    Roads;    Africa;    Phylogeography;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1001166

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Understanding the role of humans in the dispersal of predominately animal pathogens is essential for their control. We used newly developed Bayesian phylogeographic methods to unravel the dynamics and determinants of the spread of dog rabies virus (RABV) in North Africa. Each of the countries studied exhibited largely disconnected spatial dynamics with major geo-political boundaries acting as barriers to gene flow. Road distances proved to be better predictors of the movement of dog RABV than accessibility or raw geographical distance, with occasional long distance and rapid spread within each of these countries. Using simulations that bridge phylodynamics and spatial epidemiology, we demonstrate that the contemporary viral distribution extends beyond that expected for RABV transmission in African dog populations. These results are strongly supportive of human-mediated dispersal, and demonstrate how an integrated phylogeographic approach will turn viral genetic data into a powerful asset for characterizing, predicting, and potentially controlling the spatial spread of pathogens.

【 授权许可】

CC BY