News News

Content with tag zoonosis .

Human activities link fruit bat presence to Ebola virus disease outbreaks

A significant link between forest loss and fragmentation and outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans has been documented. Deforestation may alter the natural circulation of viruses and change the composition, abundance, behaviour and possibly viral exposure of reservoir species. This in turn might increase contact between infected animals and humans. Fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae have been suspected as reservoirs of the Ebola virus. At present, the only evidence associating...

Pathogen transmission risk by gulls moving across human landscapes

Wildlife that exploit human-made habitats hosts and spreads bacterial pathogens. This shapes the epidemiology of infectious diseases and facilitates pathogen spill-over between wildlife and humans. This is a global problem, yet little is known about the dissemination potential of pathogen-infected animals. How this knowledge gap could be filled at regional scales is shown by combining molecular pathogen diagnosis with GPS tracking of pathogen-infected gulls.

Central role of the mosquito Cx. perexiguus in the enzootic circulation of West Nile Virus in southern Spain

Mosquito community composition plays a central role in the transmission of zoonotic vector-borne pathogens. In this study it was evaluated how the mosquito community affects the seroprevalence of West Nile virus (WNV) in house sparrows along an urbanisation gradient in an area with the endemic circulation of this virus. 2544 birds and 34.0829 mosquitoes were sampled in 45 localities, analysed in 15 groups, each containing one urban, one rural and one natural area. WNV seroprevalence was...