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Large shifts in pathogen virulence relate to host population structure

M Boots1, P J Hudson, A Sasaki

  • 1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. m.boots@sheffield.ac.uk

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|February 7, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Pathogen evolution can shift rapidly, leading to more virulent strains. This occurs in hosts with long-lived immunity and structured populations due to evolutionary bistability, explaining rapid virulence increases.

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