The impacts of co-circulating pathogens in Pacific herring depend on interactions between viral life-cycle traits and transmission parameters, highlighting interdependencies between pathogen epizootics
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Abstract
The average host susceptibility decreases as the epizootic progresses because easily infected hosts are first removed from the population. While host susceptibility is pathogen-specific, it is likely that host susceptibility is correlated between different pathogens, so that co-circulating pathogens may have reciprocal impacts on their epidemics. However, despite well-documented examples of concomitant infections in marine hosts, reciprocal epizootic effects have not been documented in wild marine organisms. We quantify reciprocal impacts between viral haemorrhagic septicaemia and viral erythrocytic necrosis in Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) using field and laboratory work. We show that the causative viruses for both diseases circulate through herring populations and that infection with one pathogen has negative impacts on the epizootic and infection characteristics of the other pathogen, suggesting positive correlations in the susceptibility to infection between pathogens. We then use simulations of a two-strain pathogen model to show that the impact of the correlation is modulated by transmission parameters, such as the incubation period and the initial transmission rate. Our work shows that co-occurring epizootics pose a management challenge because single-pathogen management actions may amplify the epizootics of the non-targeted pathogen. This study provides a framework to evaluate the consequences of reciprocal epizootic impacts through field, experimental and modelling work.
Suggested Citation
Páez, D.J., Grady, C.A., Gregg, J.L., Batts, W.N., Ferreiro-Luce, S., Herron, V.L., Loeher, M.M., Williamson, S., and Hershberger, P., 2026, The impacts of co-circulating pathogens in Pacific herring depend on interactions between viral life-cycle traits and transmission parameters, highlighting interdependencies between pathogen epizootics: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B, v. 381, no. 1945, 20240329, 12 p., https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0329.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The impacts of co-circulating pathogens in Pacific herring depend on interactions between viral life-cycle traits and transmission parameters, highlighting interdependencies between pathogen epizootics |
| Series title | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B |
| DOI | 10.1098/rstb.2024.0329 |
| Volume | 381 |
| Issue | 1945 |
| Publication Date | March 05, 2026 |
| Year Published | 2026 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | The Royal Society Publishing |
| Contributing office(s) | Western Fisheries Research Center |
| Description | 20240329, 12 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| Other Geospatial | Port Angeles Harbor |