A key element in disease emergence/re-emergence is ecosystem disruption as a result of anthropogenic effects which may be rapid as in tropical deforestation or more subtle as in agricultural expansion and overgrazing in temperate biomes. There is however difficulty in developing suitable models to study ecology of infectious diseases, wherein spatial determinants that meaningfully characterize wildlife reservoir habitat, can be linked in turn to host ecology and to dynamics of pathogen/parasite transmission. Using a multidisciplinary approach, grounded on 5 years of collaborative data collected in China from studies on human exposure, transmission ecology, landscape characterization and epidemiology for a pathogenic zoonotic helminth (Echinococcus multilocularis), we aim to develop a general spatio-deterministic model that provides a practical synthesis of host-landscape ecology and transmission models. This approach will be applied study the ecology of transmission of Echinococcus between canids and small mammal reservoir hosts in a geographically defined zone, the Tibetan Plateau (comprising, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Tibet Autonomous Region), and compare wildlife and semi-domestic transmission patterns with that of a geographically separated endemic focus in Central Asia (Xinjiang/Kazahkstan region). A central goal will be to quantify the impact of ecosystem disruption, through livestock over-grazing, socio-economic effects on land-use, and agriculture or deforestation, on the transmission ecology of the parasite, especially in relation to maintenance of enzootic meta-stability at local and regional scales, and to determine relative zoonotic potential. The integrated spatio-deterministic model will be applied at regional scale and tested using simulations that will enable disease (echinococcosis) risk forecasting and development of optimal control/intervention strategies for high risk communities. 2 main hypotheses will be addressed. Firstly, at ecosystem level (the Plateau); parasite transmission may behave as a meta-stable focus despite inherent and peripheral instabilities. Secondly, spatial variables in the form of landscape characteristics can be linked to parasite transmission dynamics using an integrated modeling approach that takes into account multi-level heterogeneity at habitat, host and parasite domains.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01TW001565-06
Application #
7126868
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-ICP-2 (53))
Program Officer
Jessup, Christine
Project Start
2000-09-30
Project End
2008-06-30
Budget Start
2006-07-01
Budget End
2007-06-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$535,122
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Salford
Department
Type
DUNS #
228632840
City
Salford
State
Country
United Kingdom
Zip Code
Wang, Xu; Liu, Jiayu; Zuo, Qingqiu et al. (2018) Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus shiquicus in a small mammal community on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: host species composition, molecular prevalence, and epidemiological implications. Parasit Vectors 11:302
Marston, Christopher G; Danson, F Mark; Armitage, Richard P et al. (2014) A random forest approach for predicting the presence of Echinococcus multilocularis intermediate host Ochotona spp. presence in relation to landscape characteristics in western China. Appl Geogr 55:176-183
Giraudoux, Patrick; Raoul, Francis; Afonso, Eve et al. (2013) Transmission ecosystems of Echinococcus multilocularis in China and Central Asia. Parasitology 140:1655-66
Ito, Akira (2013) Nothing is perfect! Trouble-shooting in immunological and molecular studies of cestode infections. Parasitology 140:1551-65
Boufana, Belgees; Umhang, Gerald; Qiu, Jiamin et al. (2013) Development of three PCR assays for the differentiation between Echinococcus shiquicus, E. granulosus (G1 genotype), and E. multilocularis DNA in the co-endemic region of Qinghai-Tibet plateau, China. Am J Trop Med Hyg 88:795-802
Giraudoux, Patrick; Raoul, Francis; Pleydell, David et al. (2013) Drivers of Echinococcus multilocularis transmission in China: small mammal diversity, landscape or climate? PLoS Negl Trop Dis 7:e2045
Boufana, Belgees; Qiu, Jiamin; Chen, Xinwang et al. (2013) First report of Echinococcus shiquicus in dogs from eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau region, China. Acta Trop 127:21-4
Galbreath, Kurt E; Hoberg, Eric P (2012) Return to Beringia: parasites reveal cryptic biogeographic history of North American pikas. Proc Biol Sci 279:371-8
Massoni, J; Durette-Desset, M C; Quéré, J P et al. (2012) Redescription of Heligmosomoides neopolygyrus, Asakawa and Ohbayashi, 1986 (Nematoda: Heligmosomidae) from a Chinese rodent, Apodemus peninsulae (Rodentia: Muridae); with comments on Heligmosomoides polygyrus polygyrus (Dujardin, 1845) and related species Parasite 19:367-74
Li, Tiaoying; Ito, Akira; Pengcuo, Renqing et al. (2011) Post-treatment follow-up study of abdominal cystic echinococcosis in tibetan communities of northwest Sichuan Province, China. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 5:e1364

Showing the most recent 10 out of 45 publications