Louping-ill (LI) is a tick-borne viral disease of red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scoticus Lath. (Tetraonidae: Galliformes), and sheep, Ovis aries L. (Bovidae: Artiodactyla), that causes economic loss to upland farms and sporting estates. Unvaccinated sheep, grouse and mountain hares, Lepus timidus L. (Leporidae: Lagomorpha), are known to transmit LI virus, whereas red deer, Cenrus elaphus L. (Cerv...

The feeding spectrum of the wildcat Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777 was studied in two sites with different ecological characteristics, both situated in the same Mediterranean environment in the high mountain of the Sierra Nevada National Park, south-east Spain, where the rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is absent. Scat analysis (n= 101 faeces; n= 402 prey items) showed that the diet is based on ro...

Murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) infection of Mus musculus-derived strains of mice is an attractive model of γ-herpesvirus infection. Surprisingly, however, ablation of expression of MHV-68 M3, a secreted protein with broad chemokine-binding properties in vitro, has no discernable effect during experimental infection via the respiratory tract. Here we demonstrate that M3 indeed contributes sign...

The Sima del Elefante site, located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), is an important Pleistocene archaeopalaeontological locality that has been excavated every year since 1996. At least two main infill phases have been identified: a first (TELRU) early Pleistocene phase that has provided a rich faunal assemblage, various stone tools and the earliest human remains from western Europe;...

The variation of the composition in species of host communities can modify the risk of disease transmission. In particular, the introduction of a new host species can increase health threats by adding a new reservoir and/or by amplifying the circulation of either exotic or native pathogens. Lyme borreliosis is a multi-host vector-borne disease caused by bacteria belonging to the Borrelia burgdo...

In the epidemiology of infectious diseases, the basic reproduction number, R0, has a number of important applications, most notably it can be used to predict whether a pathogen is likely to become established, or persist, in a given area. We used the R0 model to investigate the persistence of 3 tick-borne pathogens;Babesia microti, Anaplasma phagocytophilum andBorrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in...

The potential of biological invasions to threaten native ecosystems is well recognized. Here we describe how an introduced species impacts on native host-parasite dynamics by acting as an alternative host. By sampling sites across an invasion front in Ireland, we quantified the influence of the introduced bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) on the epidemiology of infections caused by flea-trans...

The bromatological characterization of the Agaricus sylvaticus species (A. sylvaticus), known as the Sun Mushroom and cultivated in Brazil, is necessary to determine substances with pharmacological and nutritional potential, in view its safe use in food and in human medicine. The purpose of the present study was to determine the chemical composition of the A. sylvaticus mushroom grown in Brazil...