DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nk1b8
title: Data from: Infection-induced behavioural changes reduce connectivity and the potential for disease spread in wild mice contact networks

description: Infection may modify the behaviour of the host and of its conspecifics in
 a group, potentially altering social connectivity. Because many infectious
 diseases are transmitted through social contact, social connectivity
 changes can impact transmission dynamics. Previous approaches to
 understanding disease transmission dynamics in wild populations were
 limited in their ability to disentangle different factors that determine
 the outcome of disease outbreaks. Here we ask how social connectivity is
 affected by infection and how this relationship impacts disease
 transmission dynamics. We experimentally manipulated disease status of
 wild house mice using an immune challenge and monitored social
 interactions within this free-living population before and after
 manipulation using automated tracking. The immune-challenged animals
 showed reduced connectivity to their social groups, which happened as a
 function of their own behaviour, rather than through conspecific
 avoidance. We incorporated these disease-induced changes of social
 connectivity among individuals into models of disease outbreaks over the
 empirically-derived networks. The models revealed that changes in host
 behaviour frequently resulted in the disease being contained to very few
 animals, as opposed to becoming widespread. Our results highlight the
 importance of considering the role that behavioural alterations during
 infection can have on social dynamics when evaluating the potential for
 disease outbreaks.
description: Individual behavior of
 injected animalsThis file contains
 information on the number of nest boxes focals visited, the time spent
 inside those boxes and the number of times they passed through the
 entrance of the boxes. Data are provided for a night previous to injection
 (a.pre) and for the night of injection (b.inj). ID corresponds to the
 animal identification number, which is equivalent in the three datasets
 submitted here.dryad_focal_individual_behavior.csvFocal animal ID, sex, injection treatment, date, mass and social groupThis dataset contains information on the injection treatment received by the focal animals, the date of injection, mass at injection and social group. ID corresponds to the animal identification number, which is equivalent in the three datasets submitted here.dryad_injected_animal_info.csvEncounter dataThese dataset contains the nest box meetings of all animals during the nights of testing over the study period. "Box" corresponds to the box number (box ID) in which encounters took place. "IDA" corresponds to the ID of the animal that was inside the box first for a set of encounters. "sexA" and "sexB" correspond to the sex of animals with IDA or IDB, respectively. "IDB" corresponds to the ID of the animal that arrived inside the box after IDA for a set of encounters. "number_encounters" and "time_together" reflect the number of encounters and time spent together for IDA and IDB in that box. "date_obs" concerns the night during which the data were collected. IDA and IDB correspond to the animal identification number, which is equivalent in the three datasets submitted here.dryad_encounters.csvInfectionModelThe R code exemplifies how to implement the simulation model used in our study. Further description in the code.infectionModel.r