Member: October 2015 - August 2019

Research interest

Develop non-invasive immunological methods for free-ranging animals; Investigate key factors modulating parasite infections of spotted hyenas; Analyse the impacts of parasite infections on fitness in the spotted hyenas.

Title of PhD project
Intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of helminth parasite infection in female spotted
hyenas

Supervisors
Dr. Marion East and Prof. Heribert Hofer

Ferreira SCM, Jarquín-Díaz VH, Heitlinger E. (2023).
Amplicon sequencing allows differential quantification of closely related parasite species: an example from rodent Coccidia (Eimeria).
Parasit Vectors 16:204. doi: 10.1186/s13071-023-05800-6.

Jarquín-Díaz VH, Balard A, Ferreira SCM, Mittné V, Murata JM, Heitlinger E. (2022)
DNA‑based quantification and counting of transmission stages provides different but complementary parasite load estimates: an example from rodent coccidia (Eimeria).
Parasit Vectors 15:45. doi: 10.1186/s13071-021-05119-0.

Ferreira SCM, Veiga MM, Hofer H, East ML, Czirják Á. (2021).
Noninvasively measured immune responses reflect current parasite infections in a wild carnivore and are linked to longevity.
Ecol Evol 11:7685-99. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7602.

Ferreira SCM, Hofer H, Madeira de Carvalho L, East ML. (2019).
Parasite infections in a social carnivore: Evidence of their fitness consequences and factors modulating infection load.
Ecol Evol 9:8783-99. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5431.

Ferreira SCM*, Torelli F*, Klein S, Fyumagwa R, Hofer H, Seeber F, Karesh WB, East ML. (2018).
Evidence of high exposure to Toxoplasma gondii in free-ranging and captive African carnivores.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl 8:111-7. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.12.007. *equal contribution

Seltmann A, Webster F, Martins Ferreira SC, Czirják GÁ*, Wachter B*. (2019).
Age-specific gastrointestinal parasite shedding in free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on Namibian farmland.
Parasitol Res 118:851-9. doi: 10.1007/s00436-018-6190-2. *equal contribution.

Heitlinger E*, Ferreira SCM*, Thierer D, Hofer H, East ML. (2017).
The intestinal eukaryotic and bacterial biome of spotted hyenas: The impact of social status and age on diversity and composition.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol 7: 262. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00262. *equal contribution