@article{fdi:010061460,
  title = {{I}dentifying the {A}chilles heel of multi-host pathogens : the concept of keystone 'host' species illustrated by {M}ycobacterium ulcerans transmission},
  author = {{R}oche, {B}enjamin and {B}enbow, {M}. {E}. and {M}erritt, {R}. and {K}imbirauskas, {R}. and {M}c{I}ntosh, {M}. and {S}mall, {P}. {L}. {C}. and {W}illiamson, {H}. and {G}u{\'e}gan, {J}ean-{F}ran{\c{c}}ois},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{P}athogens that use multiple host species are an increasing public health issue due to their complex transmission, which makes them difficult to mitigate. {H}ere, we explore the possibility of using networks of ecological interactions among potential host species to identify the particular disease-source species to target to break down transmission of such pathogens. {W}e fit a mathematical model on prevalence data of {M}ycobacterium ulcerans in western {A}frica and we show that removing the most abundant taxa for this category of pathogen is not an optimal strategy to decrease the transmission of the mycobacterium within aquatic ecosystems. {O}n the contrary, we reveal that the removal of some taxa, especially {O}ligochaeta worms, can clearly reduce rates of pathogen transmission, and these should be considered as keystone organisms for its transmission because they lead to a substantial reduction in pathogen prevalence regardless of the network topology. {B}esides their potential application for the understanding of {M}. ulcerans ecology, we discuss how networks of species interactions can modulate transmission of multi-host pathogens.},
  keywords = {multi-host pathogen ; disease transmission ; ecological network ; keystone ; host ; local community},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{E}nvironmental {R}esearch {L}etters},
  volume = {8},
  numero = {4},
  pages = {art. 045009},
  ISSN = {1748-9326},
  year = {2013},
  DOI = {10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/045009},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010061460},
}