
Species diversity has been proposed to decrease prevalence of disease in a wide variety of host-pathogen systems, in a phenomenon labeled the dilution effect. This phenomenon was first proposed and tested for vector-borne diseases but was later extended to directly transmitted parasite systems such as hantavirus. Though there seems to be clear evidence for the dilution effect in some hantavirus/rodent systems, the generality of this hypothesis remains debated. In the present meta-analysis, we examined the evidence supporting the dilution effect for hantavirus/rodent systems in the Americas. General linear models employed on data from 56 field studies identified the abundance of the reservoir rodent species and its relative proportion in the community as the only relevant variables explaining the prevalence of antibodies against hantavirus in the reservoir. Thus, we found no clear support for the dilution effect hypothesis for hantavirus/rodent systems in the Americas.
Orthohantavirus, HOST, Hantavirus Infections, DILUTION EFFECT, Rodentia, Biodiversity, DISEASE, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6, Animals, BIODIVERSITY, PATHOGEN, Americas, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Orthohantavirus, HOST, Hantavirus Infections, DILUTION EFFECT, Rodentia, Biodiversity, DISEASE, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6, Animals, BIODIVERSITY, PATHOGEN, Americas, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
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| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
