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Host-pathogen interactions under pressure: a review and meta-analysis of stress-mediated effects on disease dynamics
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  • Amanda Vicente-Santos,
  • Beatriz Willink,
  • Kacy Nowak,
  • David Civitello,
  • Thomas Gillespie
Amanda Vicente-Santos
Emory University

Corresponding Author:amanda.vicente@ou.edu

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Beatriz Willink
Stockholm University
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Kacy Nowak
Emory University School of Public Health
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David Civitello
Emory University
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Thomas Gillespie
Emory University
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Abstract

Human activities have increased the intensity and frequency of natural stressors and created novel stressors, altering host-pathogen interactions, and changing the risk of emerging infectious diseases. Despite the ubiquity of such anthropogenic impacts, predicting the directionality of outcomes has proven challenging. Here, we conduct a review and meta-analysis to determine the primary mechanisms through which stressors affect host-pathogen interactions and to evaluate the impacts stress has on host fitness (survival and fecundity) and pathogen infectivity (prevalence and intensity). We assessed 891 effect sizes from 71 host species (representing seven taxonomic groups) and 78 parasite taxa from 98 studies. We found that infected and uninfected hosts had similar sensitivity to stressors and that responses varied according to stressor type. Specifically, limited resources compromised host fecundity and decreased pathogen intensity, while abiotic environmental stressors (e.g., temperature and salinity) decreased host survivorship and increased pathogen intensity, and pollution increased mortality but decreased pathogen prevalence. We then used our meta-analysis results to develop Susceptible-Infected theoretical models to illustrate scenarios where infection rates are expected to increase or decrease in response to resource limitation or environmental stress gradients. Our results carry implications for conservation and disease emergence and reveal areas for future work.
27 Jul 2023Submitted to Ecology Letters
28 Jul 2023Submission Checks Completed
28 Jul 2023Assigned to Editor
28 Jul 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
03 Aug 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
24 Aug 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
08 Sep 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
08 Sep 20231st Revision Received
08 Sep 2023Submission Checks Completed
08 Sep 2023Assigned to Editor
13 Sep 2023Editorial Decision: Accept