Trait-based vaccination of individual meerkats (Suricata suricatta) against tuberculosis provides evidence to support targeted disease control

dc.contributor.authorPatterson, Stuart J.
dc.contributor.authorClutton-Brock, Tim H.
dc.contributor.authorPfeiffer, Dirk U.
dc.contributor.authorDrewe, Julian A.
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-14T07:05:00Z
dc.date.available2022-07-14T07:05:00Z
dc.date.issued2022-01
dc.descriptionSUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS : FIGURE S1: Clinical cases of tuberculosis at the KMP from 2014-2016, FIGURE S2: Group Changes throughout the study, FIGURE S3: Scatterplot of scaled Schoenfeld residuals for the multivariable model of survival time to death, TABLE S1: Treatment set composition at commencement of the study, TABLE S2: Survival analysis for time to a positive test in 221 wild meerkats.en_US
dc.description.abstractIndividuals vary in their potential to acquire and transmit infections, but this fact is currently underexploited in disease control strategies. We trialled a trait-based vaccination strategy to reduce tuberculosis in free-living meerkats by targeting high-contact meerkats (socially dominant individuals) in one study arm, and high-susceptibility individuals (young subordinates) in a second arm. We monitored infection within vaccinated groups over two years comparing the results with untreated control groups. Being a member of a high-contact group had a protective effect on individuals’ survival times (Hazard Ratio = 0.5, 95% Confidence Interval, CI: 0.29–0.88, p = 0.02) compared to control groups. Over the study, odds of testing positive for tuberculosis increased more than five-fold in control groups (Odds Ratio = 5.40, 95% CI = 0.94–30.98, p = 0.058); however, no increases were observed in either of the treatment arms. Targeted disease control approaches, such as the one described in this study, allow for reduced numbers of interventions. Here, traitbased vaccination was associated with reduced infection rates and thus has the potential to offer more efficient alternatives to traditional mass-vaccination policies. Such improvements in efficiency warrant further study and could make infectious disease control more practically achievable in both animal (particularly wildlife) and human populationsen_US
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipBBSRC, the Royal Veterinary College and the Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project, kalahari-meerkats.com/fkmp.en_US
dc.description.urihttp://www.mdpi.com/journal/animalsen_US
dc.identifier.citationPatterson, S.J.; Clutton-Brock, T.H.; Pfeiffer, D.U.; Drewe, J.A. Trait-Based Vaccination of Individual Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) against Tuberculosis Provides Evidence to Support Targeted Disease Control. Animals 2022, 12, 192. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12020192.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2076-2615 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.3390/ani12020192
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86162
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.rights© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.en_US
dc.subjectTargeted disease controlen_US
dc.subjectTrait-based vaccinationen_US
dc.subjectWildlife diseaseen_US
dc.subjectMeerkat (Suricata suricatta)en_US
dc.subjectTuberculosis (TB)
dc.titleTrait-based vaccination of individual meerkats (Suricata suricatta) against tuberculosis provides evidence to support targeted disease controlen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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