The Influence of Environmental Change on Parasite Diffusion through Human, Invertebrate and Environmental Pathways

传播的蜗牛病，血吸虫病，和人为改变流域，特别是水坝建设，之间的联系是众所周知的。然而，很少有人了解的机制，环境变化改变流行的寄生虫日本血吸虫在人类和蜗牛宿主。寄生虫扩散，即寄生虫在环境中通过多种途径的运输，可能将环境变化与疾病传播的变化联系起来。寄生虫的幼虫和卵都是由沿着运河和溪流的平流携带的。在中间蜗牛宿主中，寄生虫在水生和河岸栖息地之间传播，并且作为蠕虫，人类和动物宿主充当运输工具。“这些扩散途径在人为变化的压力下受到严重干扰。加州-伯克利大学的研究人员的这一项目旨在全面评估扩散在寄生虫传播中的作用，特别关注人为变化如何改变扩散参数，从而影响传播。具体目标是; 1）利用钉螺和寄生虫扩散的分子标记以及对人类和哺乳动物宿主的追踪，对中华人民共和国四川省流域内寄生虫的扩散沿着和流域间进行量化; 2）评估自然和人为环境特征对寄生虫扩散的影响;（3）建立各种环境变化情景下扩散在寄生虫传播中的生态作用的数学和统计模型。这些模型将为环境改变如何改变寄生虫的流动性，从而改变传播提供机械的见解。有了这些数据，针对寄生虫扩散的干预措施的新建议将是可能的。该项目的更广泛影响之一是展示了跨学科研究如何满足面临寄生虫病风险的人群的迫切需求。为了突出这些伙伴关系的价值，PI将发起一个新的多学科研讨会传染病生态学，并建立一个本科培训部分，以利用伯克利新的公共卫生本科专业。然而，更大的影响将是在中国，在那里，PI的工作将卫生，工程和科学部门连接起来，这些部门在组织和开展研究方面一直非常独立。

The links between transmission of the snail vector disease, Schistosomiasis, and anthropogenic alterations to watersheds, particularly dam construction, are well established. However, little is understood about the mechanisms by which environmental changes alter the prevalence of the parasite Schistosoma japonicum in human and snail hosts. Parasite diffusion, the transport of parasites in the environment via multiple pathways, may link environmental changes to changes in disease transmission. Parasites are carried in advective flows along canals and streams as both larvae and ova. Within intermediate snail hosts, parasites are conveyed among and between aquatic and riparian habitats, and as adult worms, human and animal hosts serve as transport 'vehicles.' These diffusion pathways are subjected to significant disturbance under the pressures of anthropogenic change. This project by researchers from the University of California - Berkeley aims to comprehensively assess the role of diffusion in parasite transmission, with a specific focus on how anthropogenic change can modify diffusion parameters, thereby influencing transmission. Specific objectives are; 1) to quantify parasite diffusion along and between watersheds in Sichuan Province, Peoples Republic of China, using molecular markers of snail and parasite dispersal and tracking of human and mammalian hosts; 2) to assess the impact of natural and anthropogenic environmental features on parasite diffusion; and 3) to develop mathematical and statistical models of the ecological role of diffusion in the transmission of parasites under a variety of environmental change scenarios. These models will provide mechanistic insights into how environmental modifications can modify parasite mobility, thereby altering transmission. With these data in hand, new recommendations for interventions targeting parasite diffusion will be possible. Among the broader impacts of this project is the demonstration how interdisciplinary research can serve the urgent needs of populations at risk of parasitic disease. To highlight the value of these partnerships, the PIs will initiate a new multidisciplinary seminar on the ecology of infectious disease and establish an undergraduate training component to capitalize on the new Public Health undergraduate major at Berkeley. The larger impact, however, will be in China where the PIs' work bridges the health, engineering and sciences sector, which have traditionally been quite independent in the organization and conduct of research.