Parasitology Commons^™

Black Bear Population Health Monitoring In The Southeast, Kathleen Elizabeth Riese

Masters Theses

Recent growth of the American black bear (Ursus americanus) population in the southeast raises concerns about the potential spread of density-dependent diseases among bears, particularly sarcoptic mange. However, research on the health of bears in this area is limited. We analyzed samples from 169 bears in the region. We performed Knotts tests, skin scrapes, fecal floats; Canine adenovirus (CAV), canine parvovirus (CPV), canine distemper virus (CDV), and Toxoplasma gondii serology, Trypanosoma, Rickettsia rickettsii, and apicomplexan PCR, and identified ecto- and endoparasites found grossly or histologically. We found that 69% (63 of 91) had microfilaria; genetic analysis identified …

Evaluation Of The Humoral Immune Responses To Plasmodium Vivax Circumsporozoite Protein (Csp)-Based Pre-Erythrocytic Vaccine Candidates, Jack Esquenazi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Malaria, caused by the apicomplexan Plasmodium spp. , is a major public health issue that impacts over one-third of the world’s population ,with Plasmodium vivax accounting for over 130 million clinical cases annually. The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is the most abundant molecule on the surface of Plasmodium sporozoites and is considered a leading pre-erythrocytic stage vaccine candidate. CSP is essential for sporozoite maturation, migration, and invasion. Anti-CSP antibodies interrupt sporozoite migration and infection of hepatocytes thus reducing liver-stage burden. P. vivax CSP is composed of three subdomains: a highly polymorphic immunodominant central repeat region (CRR), conserved N-terminal ,and C-terminal subdomains. …

Newer Surveillance Data Extends Our Understanding Of The Niche Of Rickettsia Montanensis (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) Infection Of The American Dog Tick (Acari: Ixodidae) In The United States, Catherine A. Lippi, Holly D. Gaff, Robyn M. Nadolny, Sadie J. Ryan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Understanding the geographic distribution of Rickettsia montanensis infections in Dermacentor variabilis is important for tick-borne disease management in the United States, as both a tick-borne agent of interest and a potential confounder in surveillance of other rickettsial diseases. Two previous studies modeled niche suitability for D. variabilis with and without R. montanensis, from 2002-2012, indicating that the D. variabilis niche overestimates the infected niche. This study updates these, adding data since 2012.

Methods: Newer surveillance and testing data were used to update Species Distribution Models (SDMs) of D. variabilis, and R. montanensis infected D. variabilis, in …

Behavior Changes And Lc50 Of Dried Garlic (Allium Sativum) Acute Toxicity In Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) Juvenile [Research Note], Gregoria Erazo Pagador, Haydee Rose Dumaran Paciente, Blan Jericho Caloyloy

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Plant-based compounds are emerging substitutes for chemical treatments in aquaculture since they are known to cause less harm to both the environment and its organisms. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a popular herb that has a broad range of uses, especially in the control and treatment of bacterial and parasitic diseases. However, its toxicity to tilapia is not well-studied. Hence, this study was conducted to test the toxicity levels of garlic powder in juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) by determining the cumulative mortality and median lethal concentration (LC₅₀). Test fish were exposed through immersion in …

Helminth Parasites Of The Giant Toad, Rhinella Horribilis (Wiegmann, 1833) (Anura: Bufonidae) From Central Mexico, Jorge Falcón-Ordaz, Cristian Raúl Olvera-Olvera, Marisol Moreno-Chávez, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Scott Monks, Luis García-Prieto

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

As part of an ongoing project to inventory the helminth parasites of amphibians from the state of Hidalgo, Central Mexico, specimens of Rhinella horribilis were collected from three municipalities: Eloxochitlán, Huehuetla, and San Felipe Orizatlán. A total of eight taxa of helminths were found: three digeneans (Haematoloechus sp., Langeronia macrocirra, and Mesocoelium danforthi) and five nematodes (Cosmocerca sp., Cruzia morleyi, Ochoterenella chiapensis, Oswaldocruzia subauricularis, and Rhabdias sp.). The highest species richness was recorded in Huehuetla. All reports of these species of helminths represent new locality records for Mexico.

Biophysical Factors Impacting Sea Lice Settlement And Survival, Eleanor R. Glahn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) aquaculture production in Maine is a valuable contributor to the economy, the expansion of which has been challenged by the parasitic salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis. As planktonic organisms, the life of the salmon louse is primarily dictated by the physical conditions of the environment: the temperature for development time, salinity for survival, and current velocity for transport. Salmon lice are obligate parasites for whom the successful infection of a suitable host is critical to completion of their life cycle. However, little is understood about the effects of current velocity on infection success. Hydrodynamic …

Prevalence Of Ehrlichia And Rickettsia Within Ticks In Arkansas State Parks, Haley Stanton

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the past few decades, the number of diagnoses of tick-borne diseases – such as spotted fever rickettsiosis and ehrlichiosis – has steadily increased throughout the United States, with Arkansas having one of the highest rates in the country. These diseases pose a risk to both humans and animals, as both can acquire these infections from ticks. Due to the increasing geographic range of ticks, rise in cases, and likely underdiagnosis of these diseases, this study aimed to identify the infection rate of ticks themselves in multiple state parks in Arkansas. Four Arkansas state parks were each visited once a …

A Diverse Flea (Siphonaptera) Assemblage From The Small Mammals Of Central New Mexico, Dianne E. Peterson, Jonathan L. Dunnum, Schuyler W. Liphart, Karen A. Boegler, Ralph P. Eckerlin, Eric P. Hoberg, Martha O. Perez-Arriaga, Katrina Derieg, David Garnand, Mariel L. Campbell, Joseph A. Cook

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

The geographical ranges of many mammals and their associated parasites are dynamic. Comprehensive documentation of these communities over time provides a foundation for interpreting how changing environmental conditions, driven by accelerating climate change, other anthropogenic disturbances, and natural events, may influence host-parasite interactions. Fleas (Order Siphonaptera) are obligate, hematophagous parasites of birds and mammals with medical interest because of their role in transmitting pathogens. From 2016 to 2019, we sampled the small mammal and associated flea communities in El Malpais National Conservation Area (El Malpais) in Cibola County, New Mexico. Among 898 mammalian specimens, 925 fleas representing 29 species were …

Impact Of Testosterone Use On The Vaginal Microbiota Of Transgender Men, Including Susceptibility To Bacterial Vaginosis: Study Protocol For A Prospective, Observational Study, Christina A. Muzny, Olivia T. Van Gerwen, Julia A. Schroeder, Emma Sophia Kay-Duncan, Krishmita Siwakoti, Kristal J. Aaron, Isaac C. Eastlund, Keonte J. Graves, Jacob H. Elnaggar, Ashutosh Tamhane, Dustin Long, Nicholas Van Wagoner, Evelyn Toh, Christopher M. Taylor

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Introduction The effect of testosterone (T) therapy on the vaginal microbiota of transgender men (TGM) is not well characterised, although one cross-sectional study comparing the vaginal microbiota of cisgender women to TGM on T≥1 year found that, in 71% of the TGM, the vaginal microbiota was less likely to be Lactobacillus-dominated and more likely to be enriched with >30 other bacterial species, many associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV). This prospective study aims to investigate changes in the composition of the vaginal microbiota over time in TGM who retain their natal genitalia (ie, vagina) and initiate T. In addition, we will …

Behavioural Defences Against Parasites Across Host Social Structures, Sebastian Stockmeier, Yuko Ulrich, Gregory F. Albery, Sylvia Cremer, Patricia C. Lopes

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

1. Animals exhibit a variety of behavioural defences against socially transmitted parasites. These defences evolved to increase host fitness by avoiding, resisting or tolerating infection.
2. Because they can occur in both infected individuals and their uninfected social partners, these defences often have important consequences for the social group.
3. Here, we discuss the evolution and ecology of anti-parasite behavioural defences across a taxonomically wide social spectrum, considering colonial groups, stable groups, transitional groups and solitary animals.
4. We discuss avoidance, resistance and tolerance behaviours across these social group structures, identifying how social complexity, group composition and interdependent social relationships may contribute to the …

A Draft Of The Genome Of The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma Maculatum, Jose M.C. Ribeiro, Natalia J. Bayona-Vásquez, Khemraj Budachetri, Deepak Kumar, Julia Catherine Frederick, Faizan Tahir, Brant C. Faircloth, Travis C. Glenn, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

The Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, inhabits the Southeastern states of the USA bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and other Central and South American countries. More recently, its U.S. range has extended West to Arizona and Northeast to New York state and Connecticut. It is a vector of Rickettsia parkeri and Hepatozoon americanum. This tick species has become a model to study tick/Rickettsia interactions. To increase our knowledge of the basic biology of A. maculatum we report here a draft genome of this tick and an extensive functional classification of its proteome. The DNA from a single …

Data And R Code For "Gut Transplants From Bees Fed An Antipathogenic Pollen Diet Do Not Confer Pathogen Resistance To Recipients", Rachel T. Yost, Alison E. Fowler, Lynn S. Adler

Data and Datasets

Pollinators are threatened by diverse stressors, including microbial pathogens such as Crithidia bombi. Consuming sunflower pollen dramatically reduces C. bombi infection in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens, but the mechanism behind this medicinal effect is unclear. We asked whether diet mediates resistance to C. bombi through changes in the gut microbiome. We hypothesized that sunflower pollen changes the gut microbiome, which in turn reduces Crithidia infection. To test this, we performed a gut transplant experiment. We fed donor bees either a sunflower pollen treatment or buckwheat pollen as a control treatment, and then inoculated recipient bees with homogenized guts …

Investigating The Role Of Bromodomain Proteins On Histone Post-Translational Modifications In Toxoplasma Gondii, Joshua Steven Berthiaume

Honors Theses and Capstones

Toxoplasma gondii is a prevalent pathogenic parasite that infects approximately 25 percent of the US population. For the parasite to successfully establish and maintain infection in its host, properly controlled regulation of gene expression is critical. One way Toxoplasma regulates gene expression is through modification of histone proteins that bind to DNA and can control gene accessibility. Acetylation is a modification that is added to histones that changes chromatin structure to enhance gene activation. Histone acetylation can also regulate gene expression by recruitment of important regulators such as bromodomain proteins (BDP). A previous study showed that loss of the bromodomain …

Multipatch Stochastic Epidemic Model For The Dynamics Of A Tick-Borne Disease, Milliward Maliyoni, Holly D. Gaff, Keshlan S. Govinder, Faraimunashe Chirove

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Spatial heterogeneity and migration of hosts and ticks have an impact on the spread, extinction and persistence of tick-borne diseases. In this paper, we investigate the impact of between-patch migration of white-tailed deer and lone star ticks on the dynamics of a tick-borne disease with regard to disease extinction and persistence using a system of Itô stochastic differential equations model. It is shown that the disease-free equilibrium exists and is unique. The general formula for computing the basic reproduction number for all patches is derived. We show that for patches in isolation, the basic reproduction number is equal to the …

Frankenbacteriosis Targeting Interactions Between Pathogen And Symbiont To Control Infection In The Tick Vector, Lorena Mazuecos, Pilar Alberdi, Angélica Hernández-Jarguín, Marinela Contreras, Margarita Villar, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz, Ladislav Simo, Almudena González-García, Sandra Díaz-Sánchez, Girish Neelakanta, Sarah I. Bonnet, Erol Fikrig, José De La Fuente

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

(Summary) Tick microbiota can be targeted for the control of tick-borne diseases such as human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) caused by model pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Frankenbacteriosis is inspired by Frankenstein and defined here as paratransgenesis of tick symbiotic/commensal bacteria to mimic and compete with tick-borne pathogens. Interactions between A. phagocytophilum and symbiotic Sphingomonas identified by metaproteomics analysis in Ixodes scapularis midgut showed competition between both bacteria. Consequently, Sphingomonas was selected for frankenbacteriosis for the control of A. phagocytophilum infection and transmission. The results showed that Franken Sphingomonas producing A. phagocytophilum major surface protein 4 (MSP4) mimic pathogen and reduce infection …

Promiscuous Feeding Across Multiple Honey Bee Hosts Amplifies The Vectorial Capacity Of Varroa Destructor, Zachary S. Lamas, Serhat Solmaz, Eugene V. Ryabov, Joseph Mowery, Matthew Heermann, Daniel Sonenshine, Jay D. Evans, David J. Hawthorne

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Varroa destructor is a cosmopolitan pest and leading cause of colony loss of the European honey bee. Historically described as a competent vector of honey bee viruses, this arthropod vector is the cause of a global pandemic of Deformed wing virus, now endemic in honeybee populations in all Varroa-infested regions. Our work shows that viral spread is driven by Varroa actively switching from one adult bee to another as they feed. Assays using fluorescent microspheres were used to indicate the movement of fluids in both directions between host and vector when Varroa feed. Therefore, Varroa could be in either …

Corrigendum: Characterization Of A Novel Transitional Group Rickettsia Species (Rickettsia Tillamookensis Sp. Nov.) From The Western Black-Legged Tick, Ixodes Pacificus, David T. Gauthier, Sandor E. Karpathy, Stephanie L. Grizzard, Dhwani Batra, Lori A. Rowe, Christopher D. Paddock

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Anti-Tick Vaccine Candidate Subolesin Is Important For Blood Feeding And Innate Immune Gene Expression In Soft Ticks, Krittika Nandy, Comfort Tamakloe, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Hameeda Sultana, Girish Neelakanta

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Subolesin is a conserved molecule in both hard and soft ticks and is considered as an effective candidate molecule for the development of anti-tick vaccine. Previous studies have reported the role of subolesin in blood feeding, reproduction, development, and gene expression in hard ticks. However, studies addressing the role of subolesin in soft ticks are limited. In this study, we report that subolesin is not only important in soft tick Ornithodoros turicata americanus blood feeding but also in the regulation of innate immune gene expression in these ticks. We identified and characterized several putative innate immune genes including Toll, Lysozyme …

A Short Introduction To Marine Parasitology: Marine Parasites Of Economic And Medical Importance, Klaus Rohde, Robin M. Overstreet

Concepts in Animal Parasitology Textbook

Introduction

Parasitism, in this chapter, is defined as “a close association of two organisms, in which one—the parasite—depends on the other—the host—deriving some benefit from it. The benefit is often food” (Rohde, 2005b). Many bacteria, viruses, and fungi are parasitic but usually not studied by parasitologists sensu stricto; they are the domain of microbiologists. Parasites as defined here do not always harm their host; the border between so-called genuine parasites and other symbionts such as commensals is often blurred, and investigators who work on disease aspects tend to emphasis the pathogenic aspects and may not consider non-pathogenic species as truly …

Antimalarial Chemoprophylaxis For Forest Goers In Southeast Asia: An Open-Label, Individually Randomised Controlled Trial, Rupam Tripura, Lorenz Von Seidlin, Siv Sovannaroth, Thomas J. Peto, James J. Callery, Meas Sokha, Mom Ean, Chhouen Heng, Franca Conradis-Jansen, Wanassanan Madmanee, Pimnara Peerawaranun, Naomi Waithira, Panarasri Khonputsa, Monnaphat Jongdeepaisal, Kulchada Pongsoipetch, Paphapisa Chotthanawathit, Ung Soviet, Christopher Pell, Jureeporn Duanguppama, Huy Rekol, Joel Tarning, Mallika Imwong, Mavuto Mukaka, Nicholas J. White, Arjen M. Dondorp, Richard J. Maude

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Summary

Background

Malaria in the eastern Greater Mekong subregion has declined to historic lows. Countries in the Greater Mekong subregion are accelerating malaria elimination in the context of increasing antimalarial drug resistance. Infections are now increasingly concentrated in remote, forested foci. No intervention has yet shown satisfactory efficacy against forest-acquired malaria. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of malaria chemoprophylaxis among forest goers in Cambodia.

Methods

We conducted an open-label, individually randomized controlled trial in Cambodia, which recruited participants aged 16–65 years staying overnight in forests. Participants were randomly allocated 1:1 to antimalarial chemoprophylaxis, a 3-day …