Contact Heterogeneity and Phylodynamics: How Contact Networks Shape Parasite Evolutionary Trees
The inference of population dynamics from molecular sequence data is becoming an important new method for the surveillance of infectious diseases. Here, we examine how heterogeneity in contact shapes the genealogies of parasitic agents. Using extensive simulations, we find that contact heterogeneity...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/238743 |
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| Summary: | The inference of population dynamics from molecular sequence data
is becoming an important new method for the surveillance of infectious
diseases. Here, we examine how heterogeneity in contact shapes the
genealogies of parasitic agents. Using extensive simulations, we find
that contact heterogeneity can have a strong effect on how the structure
of genealogies reflects epidemiologically relevant quantities such as the
proportion of a population that is infected. Comparing the simulations
to BEAST reconstructions, we also find that contact heterogeneity can
increase the number of sequence isolates required to estimate these
quantities over the course of an epidemic. Our results suggest that
data about contact-network structure will be required in addition to
sequence data for accurate estimation of a parasitic agent's genealogy.
We conclude that network models will be important for progress in
this area. |
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| ISSN: | 1687-708X 1687-7098 |