Meeting Abstract

74.10  Sunday, Jan. 6  The emergence of an old disease: the cost of Leprosy infection in Nine-Banded Armadillos. STEUBER, J; BAGATTO, B.; TRUMAN, R. W. ; MOORE, F. B. G. *; Univ. of Akron; Univ. of Akron; G. W. Long Hansen�s Disease Center; Univ. of Akron moore@uakron.edu

Because we rarely catch new diseases as they emerge in animal populations, the consequences of novel pathogens on the ecological dynamics of animals are poorly understood. Emerging diseases could radically alter the energy budget of an organism and hence redefine the response of a host to its environmental stressors. During the process of a northward range expansion the nine banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has acquired a human pathogen, Mycobacterium leprae, that may alter its ecological dynamics. This study investigates the cost of this pathogen to its host animals. Basal Metabolic Rates (BMR) from infected and uninfected individuals were used to test for a cost of the disease that may in turn alter the dynamics of the species in its new environment. Comparison of BMR between infected and disease-free D. novemcinctus identified a significant (P = 0.0145) metabolic cost of carrying the disease. BMR was increased ~24% in infected individuals. This should have a considerable effect on the animals� energy budget, potentially altering individuals� dispersal, reproductive effort, and foraging behavior. Such changes should influence dynamics, not just at the individual level, but should also alter the species� ecological limits and hence its range expansion.