RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: The ecology of Anaplasma phagocytophilum: Reservoirs, risk, and incidence

本研究将调查人类粒细胞无形体病（HGA）的生态学，这是一种在三大洲出现的新疾病，并研究物种多样性对疾病传播的影响。HGA是由一种立克次体细菌（嗜吞噬细胞无原体）引起的，这种细菌通过被感染的蜱虫叮咬在宿主之间传播。这项研究将包括表征野生动物宿主的宿主能力，并确定宿主宿主的宿主能力是否是与导致莱姆病的细菌共同感染的功能。研究人员将建立和测试模型，以预测人类暴露于HGA的风险如何随着宿主群落的多样性和物种组成的变化而变化。他们还将通过实验评估通过操纵自然群落中的关键宿主，可变多样性对风险的潜在影响的具体机制。最后，他们将教育当地卫生保健提供者关于这种新出现的疾病，并扩大当地（纽约州达奇斯县）卫生部门的HGA监测能力。加强后的监测数据将用于检验生态风险与人类发病率之间的空间相关性。该项目将培训40多名本科生，并为他们提供进行独立研究的机会。了解疾病传播动态对于适当管理社区和景观以减少人畜共患疾病的总负担至关重要。

This research will investigate the ecology of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), an emerging disease on three continents and examine the effects of species diversity on disease transmission. HGA is caused by a rickettsial bacterium, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, that is transmitted from host to host through the bite of an infected ixodid tick. The research will include a characterization of reservoir competence of wildlife hosts and determine whether host reservoir competence is a function of coinfection with the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The researchers will build and test models to predict how risk of human exposure to HGA will vary with changes in the diversity and species composition of host communities. They also will experimentally evaluate specific mechanisms underlying effects of variable diversity on risk by manipulating key hosts in natural communities. Finally, they will educate local health-care providers about this emerging disease and expand the HGA surveillance capabilities of the local (Dutchess County, NY) health department. The enhanced surveillance data will be used to test for spatial correlations between ecological risk and human incidence. The project will train more than 40 undergraduates and provide for them an opportunity to conduct independent research. Understanding disease transmission dynamics is crucial for the appropriate management of communities and landscapes to reduce the total burden of zoonotic disease.