Social Distancing Works for Newts, Too<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KNOXVILLE,\nTenn.\u2014Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture\u2019s\nAmphibian Disease Laboratory are working to understand\u2014and hopefully get ahead\nof\u2014highly contagious pathogens affecting amphibians in Europe and Asia. One of\nthe pathogens of interest is Batrachochytrium\nsalamandrivorans<\/em>, or Bsal<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managed\nby Debra Miller and Matt Gray, professors in the Department of Forestry,\nWildlife and Fisheries, the Amphibian Disease Laboratory is investigating disease\nmanagement strategies for if, and possibly, when, Bsal<\/em> makes its way to the United States through international\nanimal trade or other means. Recent findings by Daniel Malagon, former undergraduate\nstudent working in the lab, show promising information for disease management\nof Bsal<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using\nexisting data from controlled experiments and computer simulations, Malagon\nfound that host contact rates and habitat structure affect transmission rates\nof Bsal<\/em> among eastern newts, a common\nsalamander species found throughout eastern North America. Simply put, the\nhigher the population density of the salamanders, the greater the rate of Bsal<\/em> transmission. Malagon also found\nthat adding habitat complexity, thereby separating the salamanders from each\nother, causes transmission rates to drop. These findings are similar to the results\nbeing observed when human populations follow the COVID-19 mitigation guidelines\nseen across the globe today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malagon\u2019s\nacademic advisor Matt Gray, who is also the chair of the North American Bsal <\/em>Task Force, states, \u201cWildlife and\nhumans pathogens are quite similar. In fact, Daniel\u2019s results support the\nstrategy of social distancing being used to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreaks. By\nreducing host density in newts or humans, contact rates, and therefore transmission,\nare reduced. Habitat structure also reduced contact rates of newts, so\ntransmission is curtailed in more complex habitats. This may be analogous to\nCOVID-19 environments. A person may be more likely to become infected in a\nhomogenous movie theater compared to walking through a heterogeneous forest,\neven if density of people was the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nresearch will support disease mitigation strategies for amphibians and could provide\nsupport for infectious disease recommendations for humans as well. “Our results\nsuggest efficient pathogen spread in populations of highly susceptible\nsalamander species, like the eastern newt. These populations will likely be\nnegatively impacted if Bsal<\/em> reaches\nNorth America. We hope our findings will help inform policy and management\nstrategies to prevent the introduction of Bsal<\/em>\ninto North America,” added Malagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nresearch is in support of Gray and Miller\u2019s National Science\nFoundation Project #181450<\/a>, and the paper with these\nfindings was recently published online by Nature<\/em> Scientific Reports<\/em><\/a>. Malagon, who is now a\ndoctoral student at Clemson University, was supported in this research by the\nUT Knoxville College Scholars Program. Co-authors on the paper include Luis\nMelara of the Department of Mathematics, Shippensburg University;\nOlivia Prosper, formerly with the Department of Mathematics, University of\nKentucky, and now with UT Knoxville; Suzanne Lenhart, Department of\nMathematics, UT Knoxville; Jim Fordyce, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary\nBiology, UT Knoxville; and Davis Carter and Anna Peterson, Center for\nWildlife Health, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, UT Institute\nof Agriculture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller\nalso holds an appointment in the Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic\nSciences at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine and is currently serving as\nthe interim director of the UT One Health Initiative. Announced in January, the\nUT One Health\nInitiative<\/a>\nseeks fundamental answers to issues that address the inextricably linked health\nof humans, animals, plants and the environment as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n