SocialVaccines: Social vaccination in ant colonies: from individual mechanisms to society effects
We studied how close social interactions between infectious individuals and their colony members during sanitary caregiving leads to pathogen dispersal within the colony. Pathogen spread, however, occurs at such low levels, that it often doesn’t cause disease, but instead boosts the host’s immune system. We therefore find a protective social immunisation of colony members, when later encountering the same pathogen again.
However, low level infections with one pathogen can increase susceptibility to superinfection by unrelated pathogens – a risk the ants avoid by adjusting the way how they interact and consequently, their contamination risk. When encountering infectious colony members carrying a pathogen they are immunized against, they engage in intense grooming. However, when they are susceptible, they focus on chemical disinfection instead.
We could further show that colonies adjust their social interaction networks upon pathogen exposure: infectious colony members perform social distancing, thereby reducing the risk for their colony members to acquire high pathogen levels. This leads to the twofold benefit: fewer colony members contracting disease and more individuals receiving immune-stimulating low-level infections.
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