title: Hantavirus infections in fluctuating host populations: the role of maternal antibodies.
abstract: Infected females may transfer maternal antibodies (MatAbs) to their offspring, which may then be transiently protected against infections the mother has encountered. However, the role of maternal protection in infectious disease dynamics in wildlife has largely been neglected. Here, we investigate the effects of Puumala hantavirus (PUUV)-specific MatAbs on PUUV dynamics, using 7 years' data from a cyclic bank vole population in Finland. For the first time to our knowledge, we partition seropositivity data from a natural population into separate dynamic patterns for MatAbs and infection. The likelihood of young of the year carrying PUUV-specific MatAbs during the breeding season correlated positively with infection prevalence in the overwintered parent population in the preceding spring. The probability of PUUV infection varied between seasons (highest in spring, lowest in late summer) and depended on population structure, but was also, in late autumn, notably, negatively related to summer MatAb prevalence, as well as to infection prevalence earlier in the breeding season. Hence, our results suggest that high infection prevalence in the early breeding season leads to a high proportion of transiently immune young individuals, which causes delays in transmission. This suggests, in turn, that MatAb protection has the potential to affect infection dynamics in natural populations.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. kkallio@liv.ac.uk
authors.forename: Eva R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Kallio
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Begon
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Henttonen
authors.forename: Esa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koskela
authors.forename: Tapio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mappes
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaheri
authors.forename: Olli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vapalahti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D003411:Arvicolinae; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D012621:Seasons; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral