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Data from: The index case is not enough: variation among individuals, groups, and social networks modify bacterial transmission dynamics

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Jun 28, 2018 version files 65.93 KB

Abstract

1.The traits of the index case of an infectious disease outbreak, and the circumstances for their etiology, potentially influence the trajectory of transmission dynamics. However, these dynamics likely also depend on the traits of the individuals with whom the index case interacts. 2.We used the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola to test how the traits of the index case, group phenotypic composition, and group size interact to facilitate the transmission of a GFP-labeled cuticular bacterium. We also compared bacterial transmission across experimentally generated “daisy-chain” versus “star” networks of social interactions. Finally, we compared social network structure across groups of different sizes. 3.Groups of 10 spiders experienced more bacterial transmission events compared to groups of 30 spiders, regardless of groups’ behavioral composition. Groups containing only one bold spider experienced the lowest levels of bacterial transmission regardless of group size. We found no evidence for the traits of the index case influencing any transmission dynamics. In a second experiment, bacteria were transmitted to more individuals in experimentally induced star networks than in daisy-chains, on which transmission never exceeded three steps. In both experimental network types, transmission success depended jointly on the behavioral traits of the interacting individuals, however, the behavioral traits of the index case were only important for transmission on star networks. 4.Larger social groups exhibited lower interaction density (i.e. had a low ratio of observed to possible connections) and were more modular, i.e., they had more connections between nodes within a sub-group and fewer connections across sub-groups. Thus, larger groups may restrict transmission by forming fewer interactions and by isolating sub-groups that interacted with the index case. 5.These findings suggest that accounting for the traits of single exposed hosts has less power in predicting transmission dynamics compared to the larger-scale factors of the social groups in which they reside. Factors like group size and phenotypic composition appear to alter social interaction patterns, which leads to differential transmission of microbes.