COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Ecological consequences of the effects of a zoonotic pathogen on its reservoir host

人类的许多传染病都是由野生动物传播的病原体引起的。一个重要的例子是莱姆病，在这种疾病中，细菌病原体生活在小型哺乳动物体内，如白脚老鼠，并通过扁虱传播给人类，这些扁虱先咬受感染的老鼠，然后咬人。人类患莱姆病的风险随着白足小鼠的增多而增加。研究人员最近收集的数据表明，感染莱姆病细菌的小鼠的平均寿命比未感染的小鼠长17%。考虑到这种细菌会导致人类和其他动物患病，这是一个意想不到的发现。这一点很重要，因为更长的寿命可能会导致更多受感染的老鼠。这种细菌如何延长小鼠的寿命，以及疾病传播给其他哺乳动物(包括人类)和森林生态系统的后果是什么？这项研究将通过实验确定莱姆细菌对以下方面的影响：(1)小鼠的存活率和丰度；(2)小鼠的觅食行为；(3)小鼠被壁虱叮咬的频率；(4)其他(非小鼠)寄主感染扁虱的速度；以及(5)小鼠控制外来森林害虫吉普赛飞蛾种群的能力。这项拟议的研究将为宾夕法尼亚大学的社区科学项目提供内容材料和研究经验。这项计划旨在增加费城市中心学校的高中教师对生物学的理解，并让高中生接触科学研究和科学职业。莱姆病是北美和其他地区人类普遍而严重的问题。研究人员将开发和测试一种疫苗，以保护小鼠物种免受导致疾病的病原体的侵袭。如果这种疫苗像预期的那样起作用，它可能会减少病原体向人类的传播。通过在野生老鼠身上精心设计的实验，研究人员将能够评估野生动物疫苗接种的预期和潜在意外后果。

Many infectious diseases of humans are caused by pathogens that are transmitted from wildlife. One important example is Lyme disease, in which the bacterial pathogen lives inside small mammals, such as the white-footed mouse, and is transmitted to people by ticks that first bite an infected mouse and then a person. Human risk of Lyme disease increases with the abundance of white-footed mice. Recent data collected by the investigators suggest that mice infected with the Lyme disease bacterium live, on average, 17% longer than do uninfected mice. This is an unexpected finding, given that the bacterium causes illness in people and other animals. It is important because longer life spans likely result in larger populations of infected mice. How might the bacterium increase life span in mice and what are the consequences for disease transmission to other mammals (including humans) and for the forest ecosystem?This research will experimentally determine the effects of the Lyme bacterium on: (1) mouse survival and abundance; (2) mouse foraging behavior; (3) how commonly mice are bitten by ticks; (4) the rate at which other (non-mouse) hosts for the tick become infected; and (5) the ability of mice to control populations of an exotic forest pest, the gypsy moth. The proposed research will provide both content material and research experiences for the Community Science program at the University of Pennsylvania. This program is designed to increase the understanding of biology by high school teachers in inner-city Philadelphia schools and to expose high school students to scientific research and careers in science. Lyme disease is a common and serious problem for humans in North America and elsewhere. The investigators will develop and test a vaccine to protect mice species from the pathogen that causes the disease. If this vaccine works as expected, it may reduce transmission of the pathogen to humans. Through a carefully designed experiment on wild mice, the investigators will be able to evaluate both the intended and potential unintended consequences of wildlife vaccination.