title: Social structure and Escherichia coli sharing in a group-living wild primate, Verreaux's sifaka.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epidemiological models often use information on host social contacts to predict the potential impact of infectious diseases on host populations and the efficiency of control measures. It can be difficult, however, to determine whether social contacts are actually meaningful predictors of transmission. We investigated the role of host social structure in the transmission of Escherichia coli in a wild population of primates, Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi). Using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), we compared genetic similarities between E. coli isolates from different individuals and groups to infer transmission pathways.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlation of social and transmission networks revealed that membership to the same group significantly predicted sharing of E. coli MLST sequence types (ST). Intergroup encounter rate and a measure of space-use sharing provided equally potent explanations for type sharing between social groups when closely related STs were taken into account, whereas animal age, sex and dispersal history had no influence. No antibiotic resistance was found, suggesting low rates of E. coli spillover from humans into this arboreal species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We show that patterns of E. coli transmission reflect the social structure of this group-living lemur species. We discuss our results in the light of the species' ecology and propose scent-marking, a type of social contact not considered in previous epidemiological studies, as a likely route of transmission between groups. However, further studies are needed to explicitly test this hypothesis and to further elucidate the relative roles of direct contact and environmental transmission in pathogen transfer.
authors: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany. aspringer@dpz.eu.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Springer
authors: Institute of Hygiene, University Hospital of Münster, Robert-Koch-Straße 41, 48149, Münster, Germany. Alexander.Mellmann@ukmuenster.de.
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Mellmann
authors: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany. Claudia.fichtel@gwdg.de.
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Fichtel
authors: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany. pkappel@gwdg.de.|Department of Sociobiology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 30077, Göttingen, Germany. pkappel@gwdg.de.
authors: Peter M
authors: PM
authors: Kappeler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D017753:Ecosystem; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008270:Madagascar; D008297:Male; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D012919:Social Behavior; D011443:Strepsirhini / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000382:microbiology