Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24827436›Full record

ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2014

The effect of seasonal birth pulses on pathogen persistence in wild mammal populations.

A J Peel, J R C Pulliam, A D Luis, R K Plowright, T J O'Shea, D T S Hayman, J L N Wood, C T Webb, O Restif

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
62citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

62 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Effects of Seasonal Births and Predation on Disease Spread.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2026
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  14. Modelling Lassa virus dynamics in West AfricanJournal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024
    Article
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  19. Transmission dynamics of lyssavirus inProceedings. Biological sciences · 2023
    Article
  20. Article

2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

A J PeelDisease Dynamics Unit, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111, Australia alisonpeel@gmail.com.
J R C PulliamFogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
A D LuisFogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
R K PlowrightCenter for Infectious Disease Dynamics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
T J O'SheaUS Geological Survey (retired), PO Box 65, Glen Haven, CO 80532, USA.
D T S HaymanFogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
J L N WoodDisease Dynamics Unit, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK.
C T WebbDepartment of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
O RestifDisease Dynamics Unit, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The notion of a critical community size (CCS), or population size that is likely to result in long-term persistence of a communicable disease, has been developed based on the empirical observations of acute immunizing infections in human populations, and extended for use in wildlife populations. Seasonal birth pulses are frequently observed in wildlife and are expected to impact infection dynamics, yet their effect on pathogen persistence and CCS have not been considered. To investigate this issue theoretically, we use stochastic epidemiological models to ask how host life-history traits and infection parameters interact to determine pathogen persistence within a closed population. We fit seasonal birth pulse models to data from diverse mammalian species in order to identify realistic parameter ranges. When varying the synchrony of the birth pulse with all other parameters being constant, our model predicted that the CCS can vary by more than two orders of magnitude. Tighter birth pulses tended to drive pathogen extinction by creating large amplitude oscillations in prevalence, especially with high demographic turnover and short infectious periods. Parameters affecting the relative timing of the epidemic and birth pulse peaks determined the intensity and direction of the effect of pre-existing immunity in the population on the pathogen's ability to persist beyond the initial epidemic following its introduction.

Indexed as

Animals, WildMammalsSeasonsAnimalsCommunicable DiseasesModels, TheoreticalParturitionPopulation DensityReproductionStochastic Processesbirth pulsecritical community sizeseasonalitystochastic modelwildlife epidemiology

Identifiers

PMID24827436
PMCPMC4046395

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.