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Contact networks structured by sex underpin sex‐specific epidemiology of infection
Author(s) -
Silk Matthew J.,
Weber Nicola L.,
Steward Lucy C.,
Hodgson David J.,
Boots Mike,
Croft Darren P.,
Delahay Richard J.,
McDonald Robbie A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.12898
Subject(s) - meles , biology , transmission (telecommunications) , demography , population , host (biology) , men who have sex with men , ecology , immunology , badger , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , syphilis , sociology , electrical engineering , engineering
Contact networks are fundamental to the transmission of infection and host sex often affects the acquisition and progression of infection. However, the epidemiological impacts of sex‐related variation in animal contact networks have rarely been investigated. We test the hypothesis that sex‐biases in infection are related to variation in multilayer contact networks structured by sex in a population of European badgers Meles meles naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis . Our key results are that male‐male and between‐sex networks are structured at broader spatial scales than female‐female networks and that in male‐male and between‐sex contact networks, but not female‐female networks, there is a significant relationship between infection and contacts with individuals in other groups. These sex differences in social behaviour may underpin male‐biased acquisition of infection and may result in males being responsible for more between‐group transmission. This highlights the importance of sex‐related variation in host behaviour when managing animal diseases.