Category: zoonosis

  • Taenia solium, taeniasis and cysticercosis

    Taenia solium, taeniasis and cysticercosis

    A woman feeds her families pigs, India (Goa). Wouter Hagens, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Infection with the larval stages of Taenia solium, the pork tapeworm, is one of the leading causes of acquired epilepsy in endemic countries. T. solium is a parasitic worm of medical and veterinary importance: it cases Taeniasis and…

  • Deforestation could mean less bats and more viruses

    Deforestation could mean less bats and more viruses

    Biologist removing bat from a mist net Photo credit: Ann Froschauer/USFWS Bats are the second largest order of mammals. Widely distributed, they serve important roles in the ecosystems they inhabit. Some are nocturnal pollinators, diving snout-first into flowers in search of nectar, while others feed from fruits, aiding their dispersal by releasing their seeds mid-flight on…

  • Terrestrial pathogens and microplastics: Hitchhiker’s guide to the ocean

    Terrestrial pathogens and microplastics: Hitchhiker’s guide to the ocean

    Left: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. Right: hockadilly, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Since 1964, the global production of plastics has increased 20-fold. Every year, approximately 13 million tons of plastic waste contaminate our oceans, with at least 5.25 trillion individual plastic particles estimated to be circulating in the oceans…

  • Meet the Winner of the Odile Bain Memorial Prize 2022

    Meet the Winner of the Odile Bain Memorial Prize 2022

    Jairo Alfonso Mendoza Roldan The Odile Bain Memorial Prize (OBMP) recognizes early career scientists who have made significant contributions to the medical and veterinary parasitology fields, in memory of Odile Bain, an exceptional and inspiring female scientist. Since 2014, the Prize honours the late Odile Bain’s commitment to medical and veterinary parasitology and the spirit…

  • Control of zoonotic malaria may be hindered by missing knowledge of its mosquitoes

    Control of zoonotic malaria may be hindered by missing knowledge of its mosquitoes

    The pig-tailed macaque is a natural host of simian malaria Photo credit: shankar s. | flickr In 2017, the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region committed to the elimination of malaria by 2030. In this important effort, they have been largely successful in controlling human malaria caused by species like Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax.…

  • What is the economic impact of schistosomiasis? A One Health question.

    What is the economic impact of schistosomiasis? A One Health question.

    Caption: In Senegal, animals and humans share water sources. The control of zoonotic schistosomiasis may require implementation of a concurrent human and animal treatment programme. Photo credit Elsa Leger Schistosomiasis, health and socio-economic impact. Schistosomiasis is a debilitating and largely hidden parasitic disease, one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases WHO has targeted for elimination by…

  • Silent Spillover: Ebolavirus antibodies detected in people in DR Congo before the 2018 outbreak

    Silent Spillover: Ebolavirus antibodies detected in people in DR Congo before the 2018 outbreak

    © Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro / AP Photo / picture alliance Since Ebola virus first emerged in 1976 (Zaire ebolavirus = EBOV) there have been eight outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, of which the second largest in history was declared in August 2018. By the time the outbreak was declared over in June 2020,…

  • Bovines, Bilharzia and Benin: does Schistosoma hybridization happen in cattle?

    Bovines, Bilharzia and Benin: does Schistosoma hybridization happen in cattle?

    taken by Hilary Hurd Schistosome species in Africa: blurring the lines! Schistosomes affect over 200 million people worldwide. Their impact as a parasitic disease on human health is huge, second only to malaria. However, their impact on other animals, particularly livestock, are also potentially devastating. Cattle schistosomiasis is estimated to affect 165 million domestic cattle…

  • Non-human hosts share Guinea Worms with people in Chad and Ethiopia

    Non-human hosts share Guinea Worms with people in Chad and Ethiopia

    The Guinea Worm Dracunculus medinensis (the fiery worm of Medina) is a nematode parasite whose female can reach up to 800 mm in length, holding the record for the longest human parasite. Female worms cause Guinea Worm disease, or dracunculiasis, a disease characterized by fever, dizziness, vomiting, and intense burning pain due to the migration…

  • The sex lives of schistosomes; complexed mixing of genomes

    The sex lives of schistosomes; complexed mixing of genomes

    Diagrammatic of how schistosome mating experiments were conducted in the laboratory In 2009, the first molecular data were generated that proved past observations of the occurrence of hybridisation between human and cattle schistosomes, with large numbers of children being infected with these parasites. This raised concern due to the potential zoonotic schistosomiasis transmission risk in…