Last data update: Jun 17, 2024. (Total: 47034 publications since 2009)
Records 1-16 (of 16 Records) |
Query Trace: Mills JN [original query] |
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Tick-, mosquito-, and rodent-borne parasite sampling designs for the National Ecological Observatory Network
Springer YP , Hoekman D , Johnson PTJ , Duffy PA , Hufft RA , Barnett DT , Allan BF , Amman BR , Barker CM , Barrera R , Beard CB , Beati L , Begon M , Blackmore MS , Bradshaw WE , Brisson D , Calisher CH , Childs JE , Diuk-Wasser MA , Douglass RJ , Eisen RJ , Foley DH , Foley JE , Gaff HD , Gardner SL , Ginsberg HS , Glass GE , Hamer SA , Hayden MH , Hjelle B , Holzapfel CM , Juliano SA , Kramer LD , Kuenzi AJ , LaDeau SL , Livdahl TP , Mills JN , Moore CG , Morand S , Nasci RS , Ogden NH , Ostfeld RS , Parmenter RR , Piesman J , Reisen WK , Savage HM , Sonenshine DE , Swei A , Yabsley MJ . Ecosphere 2016 7 (5) e01271 Parasites and pathogens are increasingly recognized as significant drivers of ecological and evolutionary change in natural ecosystems. Concurrently, transmission of infectious agents among human, livestock, and wildlife populations represents a growing threat to veterinary and human health. In light of these trends and the scarcity of long-term time series data on infection rates among vectors and reservoirs, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will collect measurements and samples of a suite of tick-, mosquito-, and rodent-borne parasites through a continental-scale surveillance program. Here, we describe the sampling designs for these efforts, highlighting sampling priorities, field and analytical methods, and the data as well as archived samples to be made available to the research community. Insights generated by this sampling will advance current understanding of and ability to predict changes in infection and disease dynamics in novel, interdisciplinary, and collaborative ways. |
Toward a mechanistic understanding of environmentally forced zoonotic disease emergence: Sin Nombre hantavirus
Carver S , Mills JN , Parmenter CA , Parmenter RR , Richardson KS , Harris RL , Douglass RJ , Kuenzi AJ , Luis AD . BioScience 2015 65 (7) 651-666 Understanding the environmental drivers of zoonotic reservoir and human interactions is crucial to understanding disease risk, but these drivers are poorly predicted. We propose a mechanistic understanding of human-reservoir interactions, using hantavirus pulmonary syndrome as a case study. Crucial processes underpinning the disease's incidence remain poorly studied, including the connectivity among natural and peridomestic deer mouse host activity, virus transmission, and human exposure. We found that disease cases were greatest in arid states and declined exponentially with increasing precipitation. Within arid environments, relatively rare climatic conditions (e.g., El Niño) are associated with increased rainfall and reservoir abundance, producing more frequent virus transmission and host dispersal. We suggest that deer mice increase their occupancy of peridomestic structures during spring-summer, amplifying intraspecific transmission and human infection risk. Disease incidence in arid states may increase with predicted climatic changes. Mechanistic approaches incorporating reservoir behavior, reservoir-human interactions, and pathogen spillover could enhance our understanding of global hantavirus ecology, with applications to other directly transmitted zoonoses. |
A comparison of bats and rodents as reservoirs of zoonotic viruses: are bats special?
Luis AD , Hayman DT , O'Shea TJ , Cryan PM , Gilbert AT , Pulliam JR , Mills JN , Timonin ME , Willis CK , Cunningham AA , Fooks AR , Rupprecht CE , Wood JL , Webb CT . Proc Biol Sci 2013 280 (1756) 20122753 ![]() Bats are the natural reservoirs of a number of high-impact viral zoonoses. We present a quantitative analysis to address the hypothesis that bats are unique in their propensity to host zoonotic viruses based on a comparison with rodents, another important host order. We found that bats indeed host more zoonotic viruses per species than rodents, and we identified life-history and ecological factors that promote zoonotic viral richness. More zoonotic viruses are hosted by species whose distributions overlap with a greater number of other species in the same taxonomic order (sympatry). Specifically in bats, there was evidence for increased zoonotic viral richness in species with smaller litters (one young), greater longevity and more litters per year. Furthermore, our results point to a new hypothesis to explain in part why bats host more zoonotic viruses per species: the stronger effect of sympatry in bats and more viruses shared between bat species suggests that interspecific transmission is more prevalent among bats than among rodents. Although bats host more zoonotic viruses per species, the total number of zoonotic viruses identified in bats (61) was lower than in rodents (68), a result of there being approximately twice the number of rodent species as bat species. Therefore, rodents should still be a serious concern as reservoirs of emerging viruses. These findings shed light on disease emergence and perpetuation mechanisms and may help lead to a predictive framework for identifying future emerging infectious virus reservoirs. |
Association between movement and Sin Nombre virus (Bunyaviridae: Hantavirus) infection in North American deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in Colorado
Amman BR , Manangan AP , Flietstra TD , Calisher CH , Carroll DS , Wagoner KD , Mills JN . J Wildl Dis 2013 49 (1) 132-42 Capture data from long-term, mark-recapture studies were used to evaluate movements of North American deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus) on mark-recapture webs in Colorado with respect to Sin Nombre virus (SNV) infection status, age, sex, and trapping site. Latitude and longitude coordinates for each capture during the approximately 12-yr study were used to produce an individual minimum convex polygon (MCP) area representing the movements (not home range) of an individual mouse over time. These MCP areas were compared by SNV infection status (as determined by the presence of antibody), age, and sex. Antibody-negative deermice had significantly larger mean MCP areas than did antibody-positive mice. No differences in MCP area were found between male and female mice (either positive or negative). The smaller MCP areas of antibody-positive mice correspond to decreased movement by SNV-infected deermice on the trapping webs. These findings may indicate that SNV has a negative effect on movement, perhaps by reducing the health of infected deermice. |
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Santa Cruz, Bolivia: outbreak investigation and antibody prevalence study
Montgomery JM , Blair PJ , Carroll DS , Mills JN , Gianella A , Iihoshi N , Briggiler AM , Felices V , Salazar M , Olson JG , Glabman RA , Bausch DG . PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2012 6 (10) e1840 We report the results of an investigation of a small outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in 2002 in the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where the disease had not previously been reported. Two cases were initially reported. The first case was a physician infected with Laguna Negra virus during a weekend visit to his ranch. Four other persons living on the ranch were IgM antibody-positive, two of whom were symptomatic for mild hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The second case was a migrant sugarcane worker. Although no sample remained to determine the specific infecting hantavirus, a virus 90% homologous with Rio Mamore virus was previously found in small-eared pygmy rice rats (Oligoryzomys microtis) trapped in the area. An antibody prevalence study conducted in the region as part of the outbreak investigation showed 45 (9.1%) of 494 persons to be IgG positive, illustrating that hantavirus infection is common in Santa Cruz Department. Precipitation in the months preceding the outbreak was particularly heavy in comparison to other years, suggesting a possible climatic or ecological influence on rodent populations and risk of hantavirus transmission to humans. Hantavirus infection appears to be common in the Santa Cruz Department, but more comprehensive surveillance and field studies are needed to fully understand the epidemiology and risk to humans. |
Transmission ecology of Sin Nombre hantavirus in naturally infected North American deermouse populations in outdoor enclosures
Bagamian KH , Towner JS , Kuenzi AJ , Douglass RJ , Rollin PE , Waller LA , Mills JN . PLoS One 2012 7 (10) e47731 ![]() Sin Nombre hantavirus (SNV), hosted by the North American deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in North America. Most transmission studies in the host were conducted under artificial conditions, or extrapolated information from mark-recapture data. Previous studies using experimentally infected deermice were unable to demonstrate SNV transmission. We explored SNV transmission in outdoor enclosures using naturally infected deermice. Deermice acquiring SNV in enclosures had detectable viral RNA in blood throughout the acute phase of infection and acquired significantly more new wounds (indicating aggressive encounters) than uninfected deermice. Naturally-infected wild deermice had a highly variable antibody response to infection, and levels of viral RNA sustained in blood varied as much as 100-fold, even in individuals infected with identical strains of virus. Deermice that infected other susceptible individuals tended to have a higher viral RNA load than those that did not infect other deermice. Our study is a first step in exploring the transmission ecology of SNV infection in deermice and provides new knowledge about the factors contributing to the increase of the prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen in its reservoir host and to changes in the risk of HPS to human populations. The techniques pioneered in this study have implications for a wide range of zoonotic disease studies. |
Population density and seasonality effects on Sin Nombre virus transmission in North American deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in outdoor enclosures
Bagamian KH , Douglass RJ , Alvarado A , Kuenzi AJ , Amman BR , Waller LA , Mills JN . PLoS One 2012 7 (6) e37254 Surveys of wildlife host-pathogen systems often document clear seasonal variation in transmission; conclusions concerning the relationship between host population density and transmission vary. In the field, effects of seasonality and population density on natural disease cycles are challenging to measure independently, but laboratory experiments may poorly reflect what happens in nature. Outdoor manipulative experiments are an alternative that controls for some variables in a relatively natural environment. Using outdoor enclosures, we tested effects of North American deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) population density and season on transmission dynamics of Sin Nombre hantavirus. In early summer, mid-summer, late summer, and fall 2007-2008, predetermined numbers of infected and uninfected adult wild deermice were released into enclosures and trapped weekly or bi-weekly. We documented 18 transmission events and observed significant seasonal effects on transmission, wounding frequency, and host breeding condition. Apparent differences in transmission incidence or wounding frequency between high- and low-density treatments were not statistically significant. However, high host density was associated with a lower proportion of males with scrotal testes. Seasonality may have a stronger influence on disease transmission dynamics than host population density, and density effects cannot be considered independent of seasonality. |
Prediction of Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse) population dynamics in Montana, USA, using satellite-driven vegetation productivity and weather data
Loehman RA , Elias J , Douglass RJ , Kuenzi AJ , Mills JN , Wagoner K . J Wildl Dis 2012 48 (2) 348-60 Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are the main reservoir host for Sin Nombre virus, the primary etiologic agent of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in North America. Sequential changes in weather and plant productivity (trophic cascades) have been noted as likely catalysts of deer mouse population irruptions, and monitoring and modeling of these phenomena may allow for development of early-warning systems for disease risk. Relationships among weather variables, satellite-derived vegetation productivity, and deer mouse populations were examined for a grassland site east of the Continental Divide and a sage-steppe site west of the Continental Divide in Montana, USA. We acquired monthly deer mouse population data for mid-1994 through 2007 from long-term study sites maintained for monitoring changes in hantavirus reservoir populations, and we compared these with monthly bioclimatology data from the same period and gross primary productivity data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensor for 2000-06. We used the Random Forests statistical learning technique to fit a series of predictive models based on temperature, precipitation, and vegetation productivity variables. Although we attempted several iterations of models, including incorporating lag effects and classifying rodent density by seasonal thresholds, our results showed no ability to predict rodent populations using vegetation productivity or weather data. We concluded that trophic cascade connections to rodent population levels may be weaker than originally supposed, may be specific to only certain climatic regions, or may not be detectable using remotely sensed vegetation productivity measures, although weather patterns and vegetation dynamics were positively correlated. |
Ecology of rodent-associated hantaviruses in the Southern Cone of South America: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Palma RE , Polop JJ , Owen RD , Mills JN . J Wildl Dis 2012 48 (2) 267-81 Thirteen hantavirus genotypes, associated with at least 12 sigmodontine reservoir rodents, have been recognized in the four countries that represent the Southern Cone of South America. Host-virus relationships are not as well defined as in North America; several Southern Cone hantaviruses appear to share a common host and some viruses do not occur throughout the range of their host. Although hantavirus-host relationships in the Southern Cone are less strictly concordant with the single-host-single-virus pattern reported elsewhere, recent studies suggest that much of the ambiguity may result from an incomplete understanding of host and hantavirus systematics. Although some Southern Cone host species are habitat generalists, some sympatric species are habitat specialists, helping to explain how some strict host-virus pairings may be maintained. In some cases, host population densities were higher in peridomestic habitats and prevalence of hantavirus infection was higher in host populations in peridomestic habitats. Seasonal and multiyear patterns in climate and human disturbance affect host population densities, prevalence of infection, and disease risk to humans. Unusually high hantavirus antibody prevalence in indigenous human populations may be associated with frequent and close contact with host rodents. Ongoing studies are improving our understanding of hantavirus-host ecology and providing tools that may predict human risk. |
Dynamics of hantavirus infection in Peromyscus leucopus of central Pennsylvania
Luong LT , Vigliotti BA , Campbell S , Comer JA , Mills JN , Hudson PJ . Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2011 11 (11) 1459-64 Hantaviruses are distributed throughout the United States and are the etiologic agents for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Hantavirus genotypes and epidemiologic patterns vary spatially across the United States. While several longitudinal studies have been performed in the western United States, little is known about the virus in the eastern United States. We undertook a longitudinal study of hantaviruses in the primary rodent reservoir host in central Pennsylvania, Peromyscus leucopus. Prevalence of hantavirus antibodies varied both by year and site, but was not correlated with host abundance. Males were significantly more likely to have antibodies to a hantavirus than females, and both antibody sero-conversion and antibody prevalence increased with mass class (indicator for age). Our findings suggest that one or more hantaviruses are present and circulating among P. leucopus of central Pennsylvania, and understanding the dynamics in this region could help prevent zoonotic transmission to humans. Our aim was to describe the differences in epizootiology of hantavirus infection in rodents from various geographical locations to enable improved analysis of the risk of rodent-to-human transmission and obtain insights that may indicate improved means of disease intervention. |
The relative abundance of deer mice with antibody to Sin Nombre virus corresponds to the occurrence of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in nearby humans
Calisher CH , Mills JN , Root JJ , Doty JB , Beaty BJ . Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2011 11 (5) 577-82 Sin Nombre virus (SNV) is the principal cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the United States and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are its principal rodent host, and thus the natural cycle of the virus is related to the occurrence of HPS. Prevalence of rodent infection appears to be associated with fluctuations in deer mouse populations and, indirectly, with timing and amount of precipitation, a complex of biologic events. Given that rodent population abundances fluctuate, often acutely, it is not unreasonable to assume a direct correlation between the numbers of infected rodents and the number of human infections, unless confounding factors are involved. During a 13-year longitudinal study at a site in southwestern Colorado, we accumulated data regarding deer mice and antibody to SNV and therefore had the opportunity to compare dynamics of deer mouse populations, seroprevalence of antibody to SNV in the rodents, and numbers of HPS cases in Durango and in the State of Colorado as a whole. If abundances of deer mouse populations are directly correlated with occurrence of HPS, it is reasonable to assume that low densities of deer mice and low prevalences of antibody to SNV would lead to fewer human cases than would high densities and high prevalences. Our results substantiate such an assumption and suggest that the risk of acquisition of HPS is likely related to both high numbers of infected deer mice and human activities, rather than being strictly related to prevalence of SNV in the host rodent. |
Sampling frequency differentially influences interpretation of zoonotic pathogen and host dynamics: Sin Nombre virus and deer mice
Carver S , Mills JN , Kuenzi A , Flietstra T , Douglass R . Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 10 (6) 575-83 Reports of novel emerging and resurging wildlife and zoonotic diseases have increased. Consequently, integration of pathogen sampling into wildlife monitoring programs has grown. Sampling frequency influences interpretations of coupled host-pathogen dynamics, with direct implication to human exposure risk, but has received little empirical attention. To address this, a 15-year study, based on monthly sampling, of deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) populations and Sin Nombre virus (SNV; a virulent disease in humans) dynamics was evaluated. Estimates of deer mouse abundance, number infected with SNV, and SNV prevalence from sampling less frequently than each month (achieved by deletion of months and recalculation of these parameters) were compared to monthly sampling frequencies. Deer mouse abundance was underestimated (10%-20%), SNV prevalence was overestimated when prevalence was high (>15%), and fewer annual extremes of abundance and infection were detected when sampling frequency was less than monthly. Effort necessary to detect temporal dynamics of SNV differed from effort to detect demographic patterns in deer mouse abundance. Findings here are applicable to sampling strategies for other host-pathogen dynamics and have direct implications for allocation of public health resources and intervention programs. |
Small mammal-associated zoonoses
Mills JN , Fulhorst CF . Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 10 (6) 547 Recognition of viruses as a major contributor to vector-borne diseases and other zoonoses dates back many decades. The term arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus) is widely recognized even among the lay public. A few rodent-borne viruses recognized long ago (e.g., the arenaviruses associated with Lassa fever and South American hemorrhagic fevers, and the hantaviruses associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Asia and Europe) were discussed under the rubric of arboviruses and even listed in the Arbovirus Catalog. A turning point came 17 years ago with the discovery of the often-fatal hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Americas. This discovery stimulated interest, funding, and research on rodent hosts of viruses and led to the discovery of dozens of new hantaviruses and arenaviruses; ultimately, the study of roboviruses (rodent-borne viruses) became a discipline in itself. In the last few years, we have learned that a separate order of mammals, the insectivores, are also hosts to likely dozens of hantaviruses whose role in disease is uncertain. The roboviruses have become the rainboviruses (rodent- and insectivore-borne viruses). The discovery of this tremendous diversity of viruses and hosts and the desire to understand their relationships to human disease and to environmental change have spawned new theories, controversies, and terminology: coevolution, cospeciation, spillover, host-jumping, bottom-up trophic cascades, dilution effects, and delayed density-dependence. The development of these concepts and much of the rapid growth in understanding of host–virus–human disease relationships are due to a multidisciplinary approach that combines ecology, epidemiology, virology, and molecular biology. | This issue of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases includes a sampling of articles that capture some of the excitement of this new and rapidly growing field of study. The following 10 articles concern viruses belonging to the family Arenaviridae, genus Arenavirus and family Bunyaviridae, genus Hantavirus. Included are two up-to-date reviews of hantavirus–host ecology in Europe and North America and eight cutting-edge research papers on rodent-borne and insectivore-borne hantaviruses and rodent-borne arenaviruses. Collectively, these articles are indicative of the growing interest of the journal's readership in zoonoses caused by pathogens that are naturally associated with rodents or other small mammals. |
Potential influence of climate change on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases: a review and proposed research plan
Mills JN , Gage KL , Khan AS . Environ Health Perspect 2010 118 (11) 1507-14 OBJECTIVE: We describe known and potential effects of climate change on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases (VBZD), and propose specific studies to increase our understanding of these effects. The non-vector-borne zoonotic diseases have received scant treatment and are emphasized herein. DATA SOURCES AND SYNTHESIS: We use a review of the existing literature and extrapolations from observations of short-term climate variation to suggest potential impacts of climate change on VBZD. Using published Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) climate change public health priorities we develop 6 specific goals for increasing understanding of the interaction between climate and VBZD and improving capacity for predicting climate change effects on incidence and distribution of VBZD. CONCLUSIONS: Climate change may affect incidence of VBZD through its effect on four principal characteristics of host and vector populations that relate to pathogen transmission to humans: geographic distribution, population density, prevalence of infection by zoonotic pathogens, and the pathogen load in individual hosts and vectors. These mechanisms may interact with each other and with other factors such as anthropogenic disturbance to produce varying effects on pathogen transmission within host and vector populations and to humans. Because climate change effects on most VBZD act through wildlife hosts and vectors, understanding these effects will require multidisciplinary teams to conduct and interpret ecosystem-based studies of VBZ pathogens in host and vector populations and identify the hosts, vectors and pathogens with the greatest potential to affect human populations under climate-change scenarios. |
Ecology of hantaviruses and their hosts in North America
Mills JN , Amman BR , Glass GE . Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2009 10 (6) 563-74 Since the 1993 discovery of a highly pathogenic hantavirus associated with the North American deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), intensive ecological studies have led to many advances in our understanding of the natural history of New World hantaviruses as it relates to human disease. Seventeen named hantaviruses have been identified in North America. Field and laboratory studies of Sin Nombre and other hantaviruses have delineated host associations, geographical distributions, mechanisms of transmission, temporal infection dynamics of these viruses in host populations, and environmental factors that influence these dynamics. Using data from these studies, preliminary predictive models of the risk of hantavirus infection to humans have been developed. Improved models using satellite-derived data are under development. Multidisciplinary collaboration, integration of field and laboratory studies, and establishment and maintenance of long-term monitoring studies will be critical to continued advancement in the understanding of hantavirus-host ecology and disease prevention in humans. |
Isolation of genetically diverse Marburg viruses from Egyptian fruit bats
Towner JS , Amman BR , Sealy TK , Carroll SA , Comer JA , Kemp A , Swanepoel R , Paddock CD , Balinandi S , Khristova ML , Formenty PB , Albarino CG , Miller DM , Reed ZD , Kayiwa JT , Mills JN , Cannon DL , Greer PW , Byaruhanga E , Farnon EC , Atimnedi P , Okware S , Katongole-Mbidde E , Downing R , Tappero JW , Zaki SR , Ksiazek TG , Nichol ST , Rollin PE . PLoS Pathog 2009 5 (7) e1000536 ![]() In July and September 2007, miners working in Kitaka Cave, Uganda, were diagnosed with Marburg hemorrhagic fever. The likely source of infection in the cave was Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) based on detection of Marburg virus RNA in 31/611 (5.1%) bats, virus-specific antibody in bat sera, and isolation of genetically diverse virus from bat tissues. The virus isolates were collected nine months apart, demonstrating long-term virus circulation. The bat colony was estimated to be over 100,000 animals using mark and re-capture methods, predicting the presence of over 5,000 virus-infected bats. The genetically diverse virus genome sequences from bats and miners closely matched. These data indicate common Egyptian fruit bats can represent a major natural reservoir and source of Marburg virus with potential for spillover into humans. |
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