Global distribution of Cryptosporidium and Giardia genotypes and comparison with our large NZ database published
We just published the local New Zealand and global genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium and Giardia genotypes in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases here.
Editor's pick of the issue in Parasitology Research
Juan Carlos Garcia Ramirez and I have now twice received 'Editor's paper of the issue' in less than 12 months for work on the co-speciation and evolution of Cryptosporidium. This time it is for the paper titled "Evolutionary processes in populations of Cryptosporidium inferred from gp60 sequence data" in Parasitology Research. Please check it out in issue Volume 116, Issue 7, pp 1855–1861: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00436-0...
New: Long-term video surveillance and automated analyses reveal arousal patterns in groups of hibernating bats
Our new paper is out in Methods in Ecology and Evolution on long-term video surveillance using infrared camera and automated analyses that reveal arousal patterns in groups of hibernating bats. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-21...
Forest fragmentation and Ebola virus disease outbreaks
New analyses support there being a link between forest fragmentation in Africa and Ebola virus disease outbreaks. This work was led by Cristina Rulli and published in Scientific Reports.
As the bat flies: a Perspective in Science on bats as viral reservoirs.
A Perspective in Science highlighting the great work by Daniel Streicker at Glasgow as well as other recent advances in our knowledge regarding bats as viral reservoirs.
The Global Phylogeography of Lyssaviruses - Challenging the 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis
Our new research is the first to address the 'Out of Africa' hypothesis for the origin of lyssaviruses, the most famous of which is rabies virus. We found support for a Paleartic origin. See more in PLoS NTD.
Paper of the Month in Parasitology
Juan Carlos' paper, Origin of a major infectious disease in vertebrates: The timing of Cryptosporidium evolution and its hosts, was Parasitology Editor's 'Paper of the Month'.
The timing of Cryptosporidium evolution and its hosts
Origin of a major infectious disease in vertebrates. This analysis led by Juan Carlos Garcia Ramirez uses calibrated molecular clocks and cophylogeny to estimate the timing of Cryptosporidium evolution and its hosts, published in Parasitology.
Bats as viral reservoirs
New review of bats as hosts of viruses published in Annual Review of Virology.
Can survival analyses detect hunting pressure in a highly connected species? Lessons from straw-coloured fruit bats
New research with Ali Peel tested whether we could use survival analyses from heavily hunted, but pandemic, species to detect hunting pressure published in Conservation Biology.
Undiscovered bat hosts of filoviruses
New analyses led by Barbara Han to identify undiscovered filovirus hosts, including those of Ebola virus, published in PLoS NTD.
EMBO Reports : further reading
Click here for the supplementary reading that I refer to in a recent opinion piece, Conservation as vaccination, published in EMBO reports (e201541675).
C Reed Hranac joined the group as an IVABS PhD scholar
Reed Hranac, MSc, joined the group here in New Zealand and will be working with myself and Jonathan Marshall with a number of collaborators on the temporal and spatial dynamics of infectious diseases in bats. His focus will be filoviruses and white-nose syndrome. Reed did his MSc at Northern Arizona University in the US with Dr Nathan Nieto on the ecology of rodent-borne hantaviruses.
Work led by my Smith Fellowship mentor Paul Cryan, USGS, on monitoring bats
Work led by my Smith Fellowship mentor Paul Cryan, USGS, on monitoring bats at wind turbines recently received substantial media interest. Examples are here, and you can watch the videos on the ScienceNews website.
