Both Coinfection and Superinfection Drive Complex Anaplasma marginale Strain Structure in a Natural Transmission Setting

Abstract

Vector-borne pathogens commonly establish multistrain infections, also called complex infections. How complex infections are established, either before or after the development of an adaptive immune response, termed coinfection or superinfection, respectively, has broad implications for the maintenance of genetic diversity, pathogen phenotype, epidemiology, and disease control strategies. Anaplasma marginale , a genetically diverse, obligate, intracellular, tick-borne bacterial pathogen of cattle, commonly establishes complex infections, particularly in regions with high transmission rates.