Social network plasticity decreases disease transmission in a eusocial insect

Authors: Nathalie Stroeymeyt, Anna V. Grasse, Alessandro Crespi, Danielle Mersch, Sylvia Cremer, Laurent Keller - Science 2018 cited by 346

using a combination of automated tracking, controlled pathogen exposure, transmission quantification, and temporally explicit simulations. Pathogen exposure induced behavioral changes in both exposed ants and their nestmates, which helped contain the disease by reinforcing key transmission-inhibitory properties of the colony's contact network. This suggests that social network plasticity in response to pathogens is an effective strategy for mitigating the effects of disease in social groups.