Prof. Dr. Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Department of Ecological Dynamics, Technische Universität Berlin TUB & Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research IZW

Complementing the One Health aspect of the RTG, this project focuses on the interdependence between human, animal and environmental health. Parasites often occur with varying prevalence along environmental gradients. We have previously shown that the establishment and distribution of parasite communities in wildlife hosts depends on both external environmental factors including climatic conditions (e.g., 1,2) and individual host characteristics (e.g., 3-7). Understanding the factors that determine parasite distribution patterns and transmission routes is crucial at the ever-increasing interface between humans, livestock and wildlife. Different livestock management systems, from free-range (organic) to intensive, represent such a close boundary, whereby organic animal farming is increasing in recent years due to animal welfare reasons in European countries. Prevalence of A. galli, for example, can be as high as 90% in laying hens (8); similarly high values are reported from A. suum in organic pig farms (9). It is debated whether this is increasing the spill-over risks from livestock to wildlife (10), and whether certain farming practices or environmental factors mediate prevalence and transmission in wildlife and livestock, a question we would like to tackle in DR1. The same accounts for A. lumbricoides infections in humans that are often linked with socio-economic drivers. Here, recent preliminary data indicate that there is a strong spatial signal in the clustered distribution of STH infections in Kenya, correlated with humid climate ideal for the development of helminthic stages (11). In addition, the environment is continuously altering due to climate warming and so are the conditions for the development of STH life-cycle stages. Understanding the environmental factors that explain the current and future prevalence of STH in humans would facilitate disease surveillance, particularly in areas with limited access to healthcare and resources (12), which will be investigated in DR2.

References:
1) Gras et al. 2018, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00136; 2) Günther et al. 2022, doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.980554; 3) Hermanns et al. 2023, doi: 10.7554/eLife.66550; 4) Jarquin-Diaz et al. 2024, doi: 10.1093/ismeco/ycae053; 5) Marescot et al. 2018, doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13059; 6) Scherer et al. 2019, doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13070; 7) Scholz et al. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173355; 8) Kaufmann et al. 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.livsci.2011.05.015; 9) Katakam et al. 2016, doi: 10.1186/s13071-016-1349-0; 10) Chen et al. 2022, doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.891672; 11) Okoyo et al. 2020, doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008604; 12) Pourtois et al. 2023, doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001607.