Migration, Prospecting, Dispersal? What Host Movement Matters for Infectious Agent Circulation?

Area of Science:

• Spatial disease ecology
• Epidemiology
• Movement ecology

Background:

• Host and parasite distribution and movement are key to understanding disease dynamics.
• Migration and dispersal are known drivers of parasite circulation and coevolution.
• Other host movements, like prospecting, may also significantly impact infectious disease spread.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how various host movements influence infectious disease agent circulation.
• To discuss methodological approaches for assessing the importance of different host movements.
• To highlight the role of host behavior and population ecology in disease spread.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on host movements and disease ecology.
• Focus on examples from colonial seabirds, ticks, and tick-borne diseases.
• Emphasis on integrating behavioral and population ecology of hosts and parasites.

Main Results:

• Migration, dispersal, and prospecting are distinct host movements with varying impacts on disease spread.
• Prospecting movements can facilitate pathogen circulation without necessarily involving host dispersal.
• Colonial seabirds and tick systems offer valuable models for studying these dynamics.

Conclusions:

• Explicit consideration of host behavioral and population ecology is essential.
• Understanding diverse host movements is critical for spatial disease ecology.
• Accurate assessment of movement types is needed to disentangle their roles in disease spread.