Meeting Abstract
A great concern in the world of public health is the spread of viral disease through human and wildlife populations. It is becoming more common for individuals to be simultaneously infected with more than one virus resulting in a new array of immune responses. To effectively mount a defense to prevent outbreaks, public health officials must understand the dynamics of viral interaction. We are using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to understand the dynamics of co-infection. An important aspect of the spread of disease is the dynamic of population growth. Traditionally, Drosophila population studies have been limited to either fecundity (the number of eggs produced) or reproductive output (i.e., the number of offspring that survive to adulthood). Here we present a means of measuring both of these variables simultaneously. We use this new method to study the impacts of population density and viral infection upon fecundity and reproductive output.
