Marine bivalves acquire infectious diseases either through direct contact or by filtering pathogens during feeding. Once acquired, the progression of infection in the host is mediated by environmental conditions, the host condition, host defense system, and pathogen proliferation. Consequently, models developed for disease effects on host population dynamics must represent this range of individual responses to infection and relate these to population responses. Also, pathogen transmission between hosts is an important challenge for understanding how epizootics wax and wane and how disease influences host population dynamics. The details of host population processes and pathogen transmission dynamics are blended in models that evaluate the effects of natural selection and/or genetic modification in developing disease resistance in the host population. Application of this type of model to marine diseases is only now beginning and represents a promising approach that may provide a mechanistic basis for managing marine diseases and their host populations. Marine diseases pose additional challenges for the management of marine resources and mathematical models provide one approach for quantifying population and environmental effects and addressing the competing goals of managing the diseased population versus managing the disease.

Eileen Hofmann received a B.S. degree in Biology and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Science and Engineering. Her current research interests include marine food webs of Antarctic coastal environments, transmission of marine diseases, and carbon cycling in continental shelf systems.

CCPO Innovation Research Park Building I 4111 Monarch Way, 3rd Floor Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23508 757-683-4940