#diseaseecology — Public Fediverse posts

The expansion of human settlements into the #Amazon rainforest, specifically the growing interface between urban areas and forests, is the primary driver behind the recent resurgence of human yellow #Abbreviationsfever spillover cases.
#Ecology #Environmental #DiseaseEcology #Epidemiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/01/eco01202601.html

Necromeny (Parasitology 🧬)

Necromeny is a symbiotic relationship where an animal infects a host and waits inside its body until its death, at which point it develops and completes its life-cycle on the cadaver, feeding on the decaying matter and the subsequent bacterial growth. As the necromenic animal benefits from the relationship while the host is unharmed, it is an example of commensal...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necromeny

#Necromeny #Ecology #Parasitism #Parasitology #DiseaseEcology

Ecological effects of biodiversity (Biodiversity 🦗)

The diversity of species and genes in ecological communities affects the functioning of these communities. These ecological effects of biodiversity in turn are affected by both climate change through enhanced greenhouse gases, aerosols and loss of land cover, and ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_effects_of_biodiversity

#EcologicalEffectsOfBiodiversity #Habitat #Biodiversity #DiseaseEcology #CommunityEcology #EcologicalRestoration

Necromeny (Parasitology 🧬)

Necromeny is a symbiotic relationship where an animal infects a host and waits inside its body until its death, at which point it develops and completes its life-cycle on the cadaver, feeding on the decaying matter and the subsequent bacterial growth. As the necromenic animal benefits from the relationship while the host is unharmed, it is an example of commensal...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necromeny

#Necromeny #Ecology #Parasitism #Parasitology #DiseaseEcology

Forecasting the effects of #epidemics is complicated by a population’s pathogen exposure history. In this #PLOSBiology Essay, @pedrovale &co argue for the use of experimental #DiseaseEcology to better understand the consequences of variations in #infection history
https://plos.io/4mdDVvW

Necromeny (Ecology 🏞️)

Necromeny is a symbiotic relationship where an animal infects a host and waits inside its body until its death, at which point it develops and completes its life-cycle on the cadaver, feeding on the decaying matter and the subsequent bacterial growth. As the necromenic animal benefits from the relationship while the host is unharmed, it is an example of commensalism....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necromeny

#Necromeny #Ecology #Parasitism #Parasitology #DiseaseEcology

Paper by me (+ Cooper & Rott) on Tick hazard in the South Downs National Park (UK) + how to control without reducing ecosystem health. Free-to-read in @PeerJ at: https://peerj.com/articles/17483

Funders: @britishdeersoc , @BritishEcolSoc

ABSTRACT:
Background. #SouthDowns National Park (SDNP) is UK’s most visited #NationalPark, and a focus of tick-borne #Lymedisease. UK's first presumed locally acquired cases of #TBE and #babesiosis were recorded in 2019–20. The #SouthDownsNationalPark aims to conserve wildlife and encourage recreation, so interventions are needed that reduce hazard without negatively affecting ecosystem health. To be successful these require knowledge of site hazards.

Methods. British Deer Society members submitted ticks removed from deer. Key potential intervention sites were selected and six 50 m2 transects drag-sampled per site (mostly twice yearly for 2 years). #Ticks were identified in-lab (sex, life stage, species), hazard measured as tick presence, density of ticks (all life stages, DOT), and density of nymphs (DON). Sites and habitat types were analysed for association with hazard. Distribution was mapped by combining our results with records from five other sources.

Results. A total of 87 Ixodes ricinus (all but one adults, 82% F) were removed from 14 deer (10 Dama dama; three Capreolus capreolus; one not recorded; tick burden, 1–35) at 12 locations (commonly woodland). Five key potential intervention sites were identified and drag-sampled 2015–16, collecting 623 ticks (238 on-transects): 53.8% nymphs, 42.5% larvae, 3.7% adults (13 M, 10 F). Ticks were present on-transects at all sites: I. ricinus at three (The Mens (TM); Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP); Cowdray Estate (CE)), Haemaphysalis punctata at two (Seven Sisters Country Park (SSCP); Ditchling Beacon Nature Reserve (DBNR)). TM had the highest DOT at 30/300 m2 (DON = 30/300 m2), followed by QECP 22/300 m2 (12/300 m2), CE 8/300 m2 (6/300 m2), and SSCP 1/300 m2 (1/300 m2). For I. ricinus, nymphs predominated in spring, larvae in the second half of summer and early autumn. The overall ranking of site hazard held for DON and DOT from both seasonal sampling periods. DBNR was sampled 2016 only (one adult H. punctata collected). Woodland had significantly greater hazard than downland, but ticks were present at all downland sites. I. ricinus has been identified in 33/37 of SDNPs 10 km2 grid squares, Ixodes hexagonus 10/37, H. punctata 7/37, Dermacentor reticulatus 1/37.

Conclusions. Mapping shows tick hazard broadly distributed across SDNP. I. ricinus was most common, but H. punctata’s seeming range expansion is concerning. Recommendations: management of small heavily visited high hazard plots (QECP); post-visit precaution signage (all sites); repellent impregnated clothing for deerstalkers; flock trials to control H. punctata (SSCP, DBNR). Further research at TM may contribute to knowledge on ecological dynamics underlying infection density and predator re-introduction/protection as public health interventions. #EcologicalResearch on H. punctata would aid control. SDNP Authority is ideally placed to link and champion policies to reduce hazard, whilst avoiding or reducing conflict between public health and ecosystem health.

#OneHealth #PlanetaryHealth #TickAware #DiseaseEcology #ConservationBiology #Acarology #MedicalEntomology #parasites #parasitology #lymedisease

Paper by me (+ Cooper & Rott) on Tick hazard in the South Downs National Park (UK) + how to control without reducing ecosystem health. Free-to-read in @PeerJ at: https://peerj.com/articles/17483

Funders: @britishdeersoc , @BritishEcolSoc

ABSTRACT:
Background. #SouthDowns National Park (SDNP) is UK’s most visited #NationalPark, and a focus of tick-borne #Lymedisease. UK's first presumed locally acquired cases of #TBE and #babesiosis were recorded in 2019–20. The #SouthDownsNationalPark aims to conserve wildlife and encourage recreation, so interventions are needed that reduce hazard without negatively affecting ecosystem health. To be successful these require knowledge of site hazards.

Methods. British Deer Society members submitted ticks removed from deer. Key potential intervention sites were selected and six 50 m2 transects drag-sampled per site (mostly twice yearly for 2 years). #Ticks were identified in-lab (sex, life stage, species), hazard measured as tick presence, density of ticks (all life stages, DOT), and density of nymphs (DON). Sites and habitat types were analysed for association with hazard. Distribution was mapped by combining our results with records from five other sources.

Results. A total of 87 Ixodes ricinus (all but one adults, 82% F) were removed from 14 deer (10 Dama dama; three Capreolus capreolus; one not recorded; tick burden, 1–35) at 12 locations (commonly woodland). Five key potential intervention sites were identified and drag-sampled 2015–16, collecting 623 ticks (238 on-transects): 53.8% nymphs, 42.5% larvae, 3.7% adults (13 M, 10 F). Ticks were present on-transects at all sites: I. ricinus at three (The Mens (TM); Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP); Cowdray Estate (CE)), Haemaphysalis punctata at two (Seven Sisters Country Park (SSCP); Ditchling Beacon Nature Reserve (DBNR)). TM had the highest DOT at 30/300 m2 (DON = 30/300 m2), followed by QECP 22/300 m2 (12/300 m2), CE 8/300 m2 (6/300 m2), and SSCP 1/300 m2 (1/300 m2). For I. ricinus, nymphs predominated in spring, larvae in the second half of summer and early autumn. The overall ranking of site hazard held for DON and DOT from both seasonal sampling periods. DBNR was sampled 2016 only (one adult H. punctata collected). Woodland had significantly greater hazard than downland, but ticks were present at all downland sites. I. ricinus has been identified in 33/37 of SDNPs 10 km2 grid squares, Ixodes hexagonus 10/37, H. punctata 7/37, Dermacentor reticulatus 1/37.

Conclusions. Mapping shows tick hazard broadly distributed across SDNP. I. ricinus was most common, but H. punctata’s seeming range expansion is concerning. Recommendations: management of small heavily visited high hazard plots (QECP); post-visit precaution signage (all sites); repellent impregnated clothing for deerstalkers; flock trials to control H. punctata (SSCP, DBNR). Further research at TM may contribute to knowledge on ecological dynamics underlying infection density and predator re-introduction/protection as public health interventions. #EcologicalResearch on H. punctata would aid control. SDNP Authority is ideally placed to link and champion policies to reduce hazard, whilst avoiding or reducing conflict between public health and ecosystem health.

#OneHealth #PlanetaryHealth #TickAware #DiseaseEcology #ConservationBiology #Acarology #MedicalEntomology #parasites #parasitology #lymedisease

Paper by me (+ Cooper & Rott) on Tick hazard in the South Downs National Park (UK) + how to control without reducing ecosystem health. Free-to-read in @PeerJ at: https://peerj.com/articles/17483

Funders: @britishdeersoc , @BritishEcolSoc

ABSTRACT:
Background. #SouthDowns National Park (SDNP) is UK’s most visited #NationalPark, and a focus of tick-borne #Lymedisease. UK's first presumed locally acquired cases of #TBE and #babesiosis were recorded in 2019–20. The #SouthDownsNationalPark aims to conserve wildlife and encourage recreation, so interventions are needed that reduce hazard without negatively affecting ecosystem health. To be successful these require knowledge of site hazards.

Methods. British Deer Society members submitted ticks removed from deer. Key potential intervention sites were selected and six 50 m2 transects drag-sampled per site (mostly twice yearly for 2 years). #Ticks were identified in-lab (sex, life stage, species), hazard measured as tick presence, density of ticks (all life stages, DOT), and density of nymphs (DON). Sites and habitat types were analysed for association with hazard. Distribution was mapped by combining our results with records from five other sources.

Results. A total of 87 Ixodes ricinus (all but one adults, 82% F) were removed from 14 deer (10 Dama dama; three Capreolus capreolus; one not recorded; tick burden, 1–35) at 12 locations (commonly woodland). Five key potential intervention sites were identified and drag-sampled 2015–16, collecting 623 ticks (238 on-transects): 53.8% nymphs, 42.5% larvae, 3.7% adults (13 M, 10 F). Ticks were present on-transects at all sites: I. ricinus at three (The Mens (TM); Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP); Cowdray Estate (CE)), Haemaphysalis punctata at two (Seven Sisters Country Park (SSCP); Ditchling Beacon Nature Reserve (DBNR)). TM had the highest DOT at 30/300 m2 (DON = 30/300 m2), followed by QECP 22/300 m2 (12/300 m2), CE 8/300 m2 (6/300 m2), and SSCP 1/300 m2 (1/300 m2). For I. ricinus, nymphs predominated in spring, larvae in the second half of summer and early autumn. The overall ranking of site hazard held for DON and DOT from both seasonal sampling periods. DBNR was sampled 2016 only (one adult H. punctata collected). Woodland had significantly greater hazard than downland, but ticks were present at all downland sites. I. ricinus has been identified in 33/37 of SDNPs 10 km2 grid squares, Ixodes hexagonus 10/37, H. punctata 7/37, Dermacentor reticulatus 1/37.

Conclusions. Mapping shows tick hazard broadly distributed across SDNP. I. ricinus was most common, but H. punctata’s seeming range expansion is concerning. Recommendations: management of small heavily visited high hazard plots (QECP); post-visit precaution signage (all sites); repellent impregnated clothing for deerstalkers; flock trials to control H. punctata (SSCP, DBNR). Further research at TM may contribute to knowledge on ecological dynamics underlying infection density and predator re-introduction/protection as public health interventions. #EcologicalResearch on H. punctata would aid control. SDNP Authority is ideally placed to link and champion policies to reduce hazard, whilst avoiding or reducing conflict between public health and ecosystem health.

#OneHealth #PlanetaryHealth #TickAware #DiseaseEcology #ConservationBiology #Acarology #MedicalEntomology #parasites #parasitology #lymedisease

Paper by me (+ Cooper & Rott) on Tick hazard in the South Downs National Park (UK) + how to control without reducing ecosystem health. Free-to-read in @PeerJ at: https://peerj.com/articles/17483

Funders: @britishdeersoc , @BritishEcolSoc

ABSTRACT:
Background. #SouthDowns National Park (SDNP) is UK’s most visited #NationalPark, and a focus of tick-borne #Lymedisease. UK's first presumed locally acquired cases of #TBE and #babesiosis were recorded in 2019–20. The #SouthDownsNationalPark aims to conserve wildlife and encourage recreation, so interventions are needed that reduce hazard without negatively affecting ecosystem health. To be successful these require knowledge of site hazards.

Methods. British Deer Society members submitted ticks removed from deer. Key potential intervention sites were selected and six 50 m2 transects drag-sampled per site (mostly twice yearly for 2 years). #Ticks were identified in-lab (sex, life stage, species), hazard measured as tick presence, density of ticks (all life stages, DOT), and density of nymphs (DON). Sites and habitat types were analysed for association with hazard. Distribution was mapped by combining our results with records from five other sources.

Results. A total of 87 Ixodes ricinus (all but one adults, 82% F) were removed from 14 deer (10 Dama dama; three Capreolus capreolus; one not recorded; tick burden, 1–35) at 12 locations (commonly woodland). Five key potential intervention sites were identified and drag-sampled 2015–16, collecting 623 ticks (238 on-transects): 53.8% nymphs, 42.5% larvae, 3.7% adults (13 M, 10 F). Ticks were present on-transects at all sites: I. ricinus at three (The Mens (TM); Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP); Cowdray Estate (CE)), Haemaphysalis punctata at two (Seven Sisters Country Park (SSCP); Ditchling Beacon Nature Reserve (DBNR)). TM had the highest DOT at 30/300 m2 (DON = 30/300 m2), followed by QECP 22/300 m2 (12/300 m2), CE 8/300 m2 (6/300 m2), and SSCP 1/300 m2 (1/300 m2). For I. ricinus, nymphs predominated in spring, larvae in the second half of summer and early autumn. The overall ranking of site hazard held for DON and DOT from both seasonal sampling periods. DBNR was sampled 2016 only (one adult H. punctata collected). Woodland had significantly greater hazard than downland, but ticks were present at all downland sites. I. ricinus has been identified in 33/37 of SDNPs 10 km2 grid squares, Ixodes hexagonus 10/37, H. punctata 7/37, Dermacentor reticulatus 1/37.

Conclusions. Mapping shows tick hazard broadly distributed across SDNP. I. ricinus was most common, but H. punctata’s seeming range expansion is concerning. Recommendations: management of small heavily visited high hazard plots (QECP); post-visit precaution signage (all sites); repellent impregnated clothing for deerstalkers; flock trials to control H. punctata (SSCP, DBNR). Further research at TM may contribute to knowledge on ecological dynamics underlying infection density and predator re-introduction/protection as public health interventions. #EcologicalResearch on H. punctata would aid control. SDNP Authority is ideally placed to link and champion policies to reduce hazard, whilst avoiding or reducing conflict between public health and ecosystem health.

#OneHealth #PlanetaryHealth #TickAware #DiseaseEcology #ConservationBiology #Acarology #MedicalEntomology #parasites #parasitology #lymedisease

Parasitism (Parasitology 🧬)

Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agent...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitism

#Parasitism #Ecology #Parasitology #DiseaseEcology

I love these interdisciplinary One Health projects that span topical and methodological expertise. My main contribution to this work was the development of a multinomial GAMM to jointly model the circulation dynamics and epidemiology of the three viral groups.

Code and data here, all wrapped up in an #rstats {targets} pipeline: https://github.com/ecohealthalliance/sabrenet-rousettus-dynamics

#OneHealth #Bats #DiseaseEcology #Coronavirus #EpiVerse #rstats

New paper published from our Southern Africa Bat Research Network project: In a cave in Limpopo Province, South Africa, longitudinal sampling has revealed three new lineages of coronaviruses, with distinct seasonal dynamics.

This work is led by Marike Geldenhuys at the University of Pretoria Markotter Lab, with a team including myself and @epsteinjon at EcoHealth Alliance.

In Scientific Reports: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-42938-w

#OneHealth #Bats #DiseaseEcology #Coronavirus #EpiVerse

TheOnion: Doctors Find Live Parasitic Worm In Woman’s Brain https://www.theonion.com/doctors-find-live-parasitic-worm-in-woman-s-brain-1850789214?utm_source=regular #healthmedicalpharma #tropicaldiseases #diseaseecology #parasiticworm #chelseamarkis #helminthiases #parasitology #adamrinaldo #jonmeagher #parasitism #ascaridida #worm

Just read "Capturing complex interactions in disease ecology with simplicial sets" for lab meeting (link below). Using simplicial sets in the context of home range overlap and environmentally transmitted parasites seems the most intuitive to me, but I'm finding it more difficult to track applications in other contexts.

Have you used simplicial sets to study disease transmission? Know of any good examples of empirical studies? Please share!

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.14079?casa_token=ZAIqqdG_6g8AAAAA%3Ab0hfEAEyqn6reLrWTZD6Ht0OfWzfjGXehzCeUKI-9fsurqZea2WjIFzVuQwFCPdqiNlv81l2xyZ8Gug

#Networks #DiseaseEcology

👋 I'm a pre-doctoral researcher exploring the fascinating intersection of human mobility 🏃 and disease ecology 🌐🦠 , esp. spread of mosquitoes 🦟 #SpatialDataScience #DiseaseEcology #HumanMobility #ComputationalSocialScience Read and interview with me: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/news_events_6123/news_press_releases_4630/news/egor_kotov_is_a_new_phd_student_at_the_laboratory_of_digital_and_computational_demography_11476

Super excited about the latest piece of art I commissioned from the amazing Rosemary Hartman (https://www.etsy.com/shop/RosiesColoredGlasses):

"Host Pathogen Data Model", a quadriptych in stained glass.

#SciArt #DisEcol #DiseaseEcology #GlassArt

Excited that this manuscript is now out at @PLOSNTDs. This work sets up a lot of what I wanted to investigate for my PhD.

#Zoonoses #Rodents #DiseaseEcology #EmergingInfectiousDiseases

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010772

Excited that this has now been published #PLOSNTD.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010772

Several years of work to understand how rodent sampling for microorganisms including zoonoses is spatially and taxonomically biased in West Africa and what it may mean for inference of the risk of zoonotic spillover.

We extracted data from 127 studies to produce an open database and described the reported host-pathogen associations. Old 🐦 thread.

https://twitter.com/David_Simons_UK/status/1565619856485015553

#Ecology #DiseaseEcology #Rodents #Zoonoses

Out from the EHA team + longstanding USAID PREDICT + IDRC collaborators: Prevalence of bat viruses associated with land-use change in Brazil

"We found that deforested sites had a less diverse bat community than forested sites, but higher viral prevalence and richness...In particular, viruses from the Coronaviridae family were detected more frequently in generalist species compared to specialist species."

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.921950/full

#OneHealth #EpiVerse #DiseaseEcology #DisEcol #Bats #JournalCLub

Interesting analysis of social structure and polio mortality in 20th century New Zealand by @anthroetc

"Applying the polio model to New Zealand: The contingent role of socioeconomic status in infectious disease mortality"

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.24669?campaign=wolearlyview

#InfectiousDisease #DiseaseEcology #Anthropology

Cool study of 232 (!!) networks across taxa with implications for parasite evolution.

"Analysis of 232 contact networks across mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, fish and molluscs [...] demonstrates that contact network structure may drive the evolution of compensatory pathogen traits according to transmission strategy, providing essential context for understanding pathogen evolution and ecology."

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2022.1389

#InfectiousDisease #DiseaseEcology #Networks

Super cool to see climate sensitivity of mosquito-borne diseases considered in public health strategy. Plus (despite my handle), I'm extremely stoked about the promise of vaccines against malaria. I'm also curious how #climatechange may shift the effectiveness & feasibility of seasonal malaria vaccination.

You can see the full list of our favorite papers here: https://web.stanford.edu/~fukamit/papers2022.htm

#diseaseecology

https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/careers

An opportunity to work with a great team on an interesting sounding project. May be of particular interest to those interested in plant pathogens and trade networks. #DiseaseEcology #DataScience #Rstats

The spread of #AfricanSwineFever through mainland Europe over the last 15 years really has an inevitable feel to it. Now to see if I can turn this model into something useful.

#Rstats #ASF #DiseaseEcology

Anyone know of lists of people to follow for:
#Anthropology #BiologicalAnthropology #InfectiousDisease #DiseaseEcology #SocialNetworkAnalysis