Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease affecting millions of people worldwide. The disease is caused by different species of Leishmania, and it is manifested by three major clinical forms namely cutaneous, muco-cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. This review is aimed to address briefly the parasite, the vector and the reservoir aspects in transmission of leishmaniasis in different regions of...

The influence of host diversity on multi-host pathogen transmission and persistence can be confounded by the large number of species and biological interactions that can characterize many transmission systems. For vector-borne pathogens, the composition of host communities has been hypothesized to affect transmission; however, the specific characteristics of host communities that affect transmi...

We propose a new threshold quantity for the analysis of the epidemiology of infectious diseases. The quantity is similar in concept to the familiar basic reproduction ratio, R0, but it singles out particular host types instead of providing a criterion that is uniform for all host types. Using this methodology we are able to identify the long-term effects of disease-control strategies for partic...

Habitat fragmentation commonly influences distribution of zoonotic disease reservoirs. In Panama, populations of rodent hosts of hantaviruses are favored by small habitat fragments isolated by agricultural lands. We expected a similar relationship between landscape characteristics and host distribution at fine geographical scales in southern Panama. The relative abundance of Zygodontomys brevic...

We found a diversity of Rickettsia spp. in seabird ticks from 6 tropical islands. The bacteria showed strong host specificity and sequence similarity with strains in other regions. Seabird ticks may be key reservoirs for pathogenic Rickettsia spp., and bird hosts may have a role in dispersing ticks and tick-associated infectious agents over large distances.

during our study (summer of 1994) twenty two tatera indica were collected and two out of them (9.09%) were naturally infected with amastigote. parasites were cultured in nnn+lit medium and isolated promastigotes were sent to the medical university of montpellier in france for identification. the result of isoenzyme showed, the parasite was leishmania major zymodem mon 26-(=lon 1), therefore tat...

The Egyptian rousette bat (ERB) is a natural reservoir host for Marburg virus (MARV); however, the mechanisms by which MARV is transmitted bat-to-bat and to other animals are unclear. Here we co-house MARV-inoculated donor ERBs with naive contact ERBs. MARV shedding is detected in oral, rectal and urine specimens from inoculated bats from 5-19 days post infection. Simultaneously, MARV is detect...

Bats are natural reservoirs of several important emerging viruses. Cross-species transmission appears to be quite common among bats, which may contribute to their unique reservoir potential. Therefore, understanding the importance of bats as reservoirs requires examining them in a community context rather than concentrating on individual species. Here, we use a network approach to identify ecol...

620 areas), it is unclear whether they are an important reservoir for human infection or only a sentinel animal that is susceptible to infection from an environmental source. Human infections have been reported from traumatic implantation, inhalation of spores from soil, or possibly from a specific host plant.[5] Penicillium marneffei has been isolated from bamboo rat furrows and the current co...

Plasmodium vivax relapse infections occur following activation of latent liver-stages parasites (hypnozoites) causing new blood-stage infections weeks to months after the initial infection. We develop a within-host mathematical model of liver-stage hypnozoites, and validate it against data from tropical strains of P. vivax. The within-host model is embedded in a P. vivax transmission model to d...