A5037615413- Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Vector-Borne Animal Diseases
- Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences
- Insect and Pesticide Research
- Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
- Trypanosoma species research and implications
- Animal Virus Infections Studies
- Virus-based gene therapy research
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Parasites and Host Interactions
- Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Health, psychology, and well-being
- Research on Leishmaniasis Studies
- Streptococcal Infections and Treatments
- Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
- Malaria Research and Control
- Helminth infection and control
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Infections and bacterial resistance
- Lysosomal Storage Disorders Research
- Diphtheria, Corynebacterium, and Tetanus
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Herpesvirus Infections and Treatments
- Parasitic Infections and Diagnostics
University of Glasgow
2015-2024
Michigan Medicine
2024
Medical Research Council
2023
MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
2021-2023
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
2022
University College London
1991-2021
The Royal Free Hospital
1991-2021
Society of Thoracic Surgeons
2018
Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology
2013-2017
Wellcome Trust
2014-2017
The role of mammalian skin in harbouring and transmitting arthropod-borne protozoan parasites has been overlooked for decades as these pathogens have regarded primarily blood-dwelling organisms. Intriguingly, infections with low or undetected blood are common, particularly the case Human African Trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. We hypothesise, therefore, represents an anatomic reservoir infection. Here we definitively show that substantial quantities trypanosomes exist...
Theileria annulata and T. parva are closely related protozoan parasites that cause lymphoproliferative diseases of cattle. We sequenced the genome compared it with to understand mechanisms underlying transformation tropism. Despite high conservation gene sequences synteny, analysis reveals unequally expanded families species-specific genes. also identify divergent putative secreted polypeptides may reduce immune recognition, candidate regulators host-cell transformation, a Theileria-specific...
Babesia spp. are tick-borne, intraerythrocytic hemoparasites that use antigenic variation to resist host immunity, through sequential modification of the parasite-derived variant erythrocyte surface antigen (VESA) expressed on infected red blood cell surface. We identified genomic processes driving diversity in genes encoding VESA (ves1) comparative analysis within and between three species, (B. bigemina, B. divergens bovis). Ves1 structure diverges rapidly after speciation, notably...
Reduced susceptibility to infectious disease can increase the frequency of otherwise deleterious alleles. In populations African ancestry, two apolipoprotein-L1 (APOL1) variants with a recessive kidney risk, named G1 and G2, occur at high frequency. APOL1 is trypanolytic protein that confers innate resistance most trypanosomes, but not Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense or T.b. gambiense, which cause human trypanosomiasis. this case-control study, we test prevailing hypothesis these reduce...
Evolutionary theory predicts that the lack of recombination and chromosomal re-assortment in strictly asexual organisms results homologous chromosomes irreversibly accumulating mutations thus evolving independently each other, a phenomenon termed Meselson effect. We apply population genomics approach to examine this effect an important human pathogen, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. determine T.b. gambiense is asexually derived from single progenitor, which emerged within last 10,000 years....
The aim of the study was to find evidence SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK cats.Tissue samples were tested for antigen using immunofluorescence and viral RNA by situ hybridisation. A set 387 oropharyngeal swabs that had been submitted routine respiratory pathogen testing reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR.Lung tissue collected post-mortem from cat 1 positive both nucleocapsid RNA. detected an swab 2 presented with rhinitis conjunctivitis. High throughput sequencing genome revealed five single...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in regulating post-transcriptional gene expression and are essential for development the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans higher organisms. Whether microRNAs involved developmental programs of parasitic nematodes is currently unknown. Here we describe miRNA repertoire two important as an first step addressing this question. The small RNAs from larval adult stages species, Brugia pahangi Haemonchus contortus, were identified using deep-sequencing...
Many individual hosts are infected with multiple parasite species, and this may increase or decrease the pathogenicity of infections. This phenomenon is termed heterologous reactivity potentially an important determinant both patterns morbidity mortality impact disease control measures at population level. Using infections Theileria parva (a tick-borne protozoan, related to Plasmodium) in indigenous African cattle [where it causes East Coast fever (ECF)] as a model system, we obtain first...
Tick-borne haemoparasitic diseases (TBHDs), caused by Theileria, Babesia, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia, are common in regions of the world where distributions host, pathogen vector overlap. Many these threaten livestock production some also represent a concern to human public health. The primary aim this study was determine prevalence above-mentioned pathogens large number blood samples (n = 1979) collected from sheep 1727) goats 252) Turkey. A secondary assess diagnostic sensitivity...
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is a fatal disease found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The close to elimination in many areas, although it was similarly once before and subsequently reemerged, despite seemingly low rates of transmission. Determining how these foci persisted overcame an apparent transmission paradox key finally eliminating HAT. By assessing clinical, laboratory, mathematical data, we propose that asymptomatic infections contribute through the...
Abstract Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disorder of uncertain aetiology which attracts increasing research interest. This paper describes the development multidimensional measure incorporating diverse symptoms associated with illness. The Profile Fatigue-Related Symptoms (PFRS) has four scales: emotional distress, cognitive difficulty, and somatic symptoms. These showed good convergence comparison measures, high reliability internal consistency. CFS patients had markedly elevated scores...
Theileria parasites invade and transform bovine leukocytes causing either East Coast fever (T. parva), or tropical theileriosis annulata). Susceptible animals usually die within weeks of infection, but indigenous infected cattle show markedly reduced pathology, suggesting that host genetic factors may cause disease susceptibility. Attenuated live vaccines are widely used to control attenuation is associated with invasiveness macrophages in vitro. Disease pathogenesis therefore linked...
ABSTRACT We sequenced the genome of Theileria orientalis , a tick-borne apicomplexan protozoan parasite cattle. The focus this study was comparative analysis T . relative to other highly pathogenic species, parva and annulata induce transformation infected cells lymphocyte or macrophage/monocyte lineages; in contrast, does not uncontrolled proliferation leukocytes multiplies predominantly within erythrocytes. While synteny across homologous chromosomes three species found be well conserved...
Salmonid alphavirus is the aetological agent of pancreas disease (PD) in marine Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, with most outbreaks Norway caused by SAV subtype 3 (SAV3). This atypical transmitted horizontally causing a significant economic impact on aquaculture industry. histopathological proteomic study, using an established cohabitational experimental model, investigated correlation between tissue damage during PD number serum proteins associated...
Trypanosoma brucei gambiense causes 97% of all cases African sleeping sickness, a fatal disease sub-Saharan Africa. Most species trypanosome, such as T. b. brucei, are unable to infect humans due the trypanolytic serum protein apolipoprotein-L1 (APOL1) delivered via two trypanosome lytic factors (TLF-1 and TLF-2). Understanding how overcomes these infects is major importance in fight against this disease. Previous work indicated that failure take up TLF-1 contributes resistance TLF-1,...
Background Theileria parva causes an acute fatal disease in cattle, but infections are asymptomatic the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). Cattle can be immunized against parasite by infection and treatment, immunity is partially strain specific. Available data indicate that CD8+ T lymphocyte responses mediate protection and, recently, several antigens recognised cells have been identified. This study set out to determine nature extent of polymorphism two these antigens, Tp1 Tp2, which...