Using Microbial Networks To Quantify Transmission Dynamics of Bovine Tuberculosis (Ref: 3992)

动物中新发传染病的发病率不断上升，对人类的健康和福利以及牲畜等具有重要商业价值的物种构成了挑战。应对高传染性疾病的出现和传播要求我们了解病原体传播的主要途径，以及直接和间接感染源的相对贡献。本博士将使用在疾病热点地区收集的粪便和环境样本的宏基因组测序来构建牛分枝杆菌（牛结核病的病原体）的假定传播网络。学生将使用这些网络来量化物种内、物种间和宿主环境接触事件的频率，以及它们对病原体流行和传播的影响。这些指标将与安装了接近感应项圈的牛的宿主接触的同期估计进行验证。这项工作还将对肠道微生物组对商业上重要物种健康的重要性产生新的见解。该项目将由埃克塞特大学和动植物卫生机构合作开展，并将提供一系列重要技术方面的培训。这些措施包括整合实地和实验室的感染研究、疾病传播模型以及尖端的基因组和疾病诊断技术。

The increasing incidence of emerging infectious disease in animals presents a challenge to health and welfare of people, as well as commercially important species such as livestock. Tackling the emergence and spread of highly infectious diseases require that we understand the major routes of pathogen transmission, and the relative contributions of direct and indirect sources of infection. This PhD will use metagenomic sequencing of faecal and environmental samples collected in a disease hotspot to build putative transmission networks for the pathogen Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis. The student will use these networks to quantify the frequency of within-species, between-species and host-environment contact events, and their implications for the prevalence and transmission of the pathogen. These metrics will be validated with contemporaneous estimates of host contact from cattle fitted with proximity sensing collars. This work will also yield novel insights into the importance of the gut microbiome for the health of commercially important species. The project will be a collaboration between the University of Exeter and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and will provide training in a range of important techniques. These include integration of field and laboratory studies of infection, disease transmission modelling and cutting edge genomic and disease diagnostic techniques.