Parasitism and Wildlife Disease

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All animal and human populations harbour a range of infections that can both affect their own survival and breeding success and potentially cross species boundaries to impact on domesticated animal species and humans. In collaboration with colleagues at The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology we have been conducting a long term study on the impact of parasitism and associated levels of disease on bird populations and the potential for infection to be moved around the marine and terrestrial environmeant. In particular we are interested in the ways that infection has completely different consequences in males and females, the impact of early life environmental effects on responses to infection on long term fitness, how family dynamics can drive different patterns of disease and the hidden costs of infection that can operate indirectly through other individuals in the population with which infected individuals will inevitably interact. 

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Parasitic disease and it's control is a major economic drain on resources in the farming industry and can have a major impact on the welfare of animals. However, extensive use of drugs to control disease have implications for human health and lead to the evolution of resistance in parasite communities over time. Targeted dosing regimes can help alleviate these risks but require knowledge of which animals become parasitised and when. With colleages at the Scottish Rural Agricultural College we are investigating whether behavioual changes in livestock can be used as an indicator of parasite infection. We are using a combination of  social network analysis to identify changes in animal social structures as well as looking at changes in animal activity levels and feeding behaviours to determine early signs of parasitism hat may facilitate more targeted drug use to minimise these risks.

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Wildlife populations naturally experience a wide range of infections and disease. Understanding how they circulate in the environment, how they are evolving over time and how different hosts are affected is key to understanding both their impact on different animal species and their potential to spill-over into domesticated animals and humans. We are currently experiencing a major outbreak of Avian Influenza that is having a major impact both on wild birds and commercial poultry at a global scale. This is a disease caused by infection by a group of Influenza A type viruses of which water birds are the natural host. These viruses usually circulate in wild waterfowl and shorebirds with relatively little impact. However, the past year has seen a significant change in the impact of one particular subtype of avian influenza called H5N1. Mortality reports in wild birds have been highest in seabirds with over 200,000 dead birds reported over a three month period in Scotland alone. These are novel hosts that up until this point have been relatively unaffected so we currently lack information about how this disease is impacting in these novel host populations, hindering our ability to make informed decisions about any potential mitigation strategies that might be put in place or evaluate their likely success. 

ECOFLU is a NERC funded project to support a wide range of researchers and stakeholders to address the impact of the current epizootic in wild bird populations with a view to identifying mitigatons where these can be put in place.