Emergence of synergistic and competitive pathogens in a coevolutionary spreading model

Ghanbarnejad, Fakhteh; Seegers, Kai; Cardillo, Alessio; Hövel, Philipp

Emergence of synergistic and competitive pathogens in a coevolutionary spreading model

Files

PhysRevE.105.034308.pdf(1.02 MB)

Published Version

Date

2022-03-21

Authors

Ghanbarnejad, Fakhteh

Seegers, Kai

Cardillo, Alessio

Hövel, Philipp

Publisher

American Physical Society

Published Version

10.1103/PhysRevE.105.034308

Abstract

Cooperation and competition between pathogens can alter the amount of individuals affected by a coinfection. Nonetheless, the evolution of the pathogens' behavior has been overlooked. Here, we consider a coevolutionary model where the simultaneous spreading is described by a two-pathogen susceptible-infected-recovered model in an either synergistic or competitive manner. At the end of each epidemic season, the pathogens species reproduce according to their fitness that, in turn, depends on the payoff accumulated during the spreading season in a hawk-and-dove game. This coevolutionary model displays a rich set of features. Specifically, the evolution of the pathogens' strategy induces abrupt transitions in the epidemic prevalence. Furthermore, we observe that the long-term dynamics results in a single, surviving pathogen species, and that the cooperative behavior of pathogens can emerge even under unfavorable conditions.

Keywords

Pathogen species , Cooperative behavior

Citation

Ghanbarnejad, F., Seegers, K., Cardillo, A. and Hövel, P. (2022) 'Emergence of synergistic and competitive pathogens in a coevolutionary spreading model', Physical Review E, 105(3), 034308 (8pp). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.105.034308