Global change, parasite transmission and disease control: lessons from ecology

Cable, Joanne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8510-7055, Barber, I., Boag, B., Ellison, Amy, Morgan, E., Murray, K., Pascoe, E. L., Salt, S. M., Wilson, A. J. and Booth, M. 2017. Global change, parasite transmission and disease control: lessons from ecology. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 372 (1719) , 20160088. 10.1098/rstb.2016.0088

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (770kB) | Preview

Abstract

Parasitic infections are ubiquitous in wildlife, livestock and human populations, and healthy ecosystems are often parasite rich. Yet, their negative impacts can be extreme. Understanding how both anticipated and cryptic changes in a system might affect parasite transmission at an individual, local and global level, is critical for sustainable control in humans and livestock. Here we highlight and synthesise evidence regarding potential effects of ‘system changes’ (both climatic and anthropogenic) on parasite transmission from wild host-parasite systems. Such information could inform more efficient and sustainable parasite control programmes in domestic animals or humans. Many examples from diverse terrestrial and aquatic natural systems show how abiotic and biotic factors affected by system changes can interact additively, multiplicatively or antagonistically to influence parasite transmission, including through altered habitat structure, biodiversity, host demographics and evolution. Despite this, few studies of managed systems explicitly consider these higher-order interactions, or the subsequent effects of parasite evolution, which can conceal or exaggerate measured impacts of control actions. We call for a more integrated approach to investigating transmission dynamics, which recognizes these complexities and makes use of new technologies for data capture and monitoring, and to support robust predictions of altered parasite dynamics in a rapidly changing world.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Uncontrolled Keywords:	infectious disease; climate change; sustainable control; stressors
Publisher:	Royal Society
ISSN:	0962-8436
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 January 2017
Date of Acceptance:	24 January 2017
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 23:16
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/95718

Citation Data

Cited 111 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item