Research team
Quantifying the transmission dynamics of two rodentborne viral infections in a variable environment.
Abstract
For a better understanding of the transmission of infections, an integrative approach can prove very useful. With the ultimate aim of creating stochastic, individual-based mathematical models of the transmission of a rodent-borne virus (Mopeia virus in the African multimammate mouse Mastomys natalensis), we will use laboratory as well as field experiments to collect the data necessary to feed the models. These models allow us to test fundamental epidemiological theories that have so far proven elusive to prove but are now, thanks to the unique field setup that will be used, possible to test.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Leirs Herwig
- Fellow: Borremans Benny
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
Quantifying the transmission dynamics of two rodent-borne viral infections in a variable environment.
Abstract
For a better understanding of the transmission of infections, an integrative approach can prove very useful. With the ultimate aim of creating stochastic, individual-based mathematical models of the transmission of a rodent-borne virus (Mopeia virus in the African multimammate mouse Mastomys natalensis), we will use laboratory as well as field experiments to collect the data necessary to feed the models. These models allow us to test fundamental epidemiological theories that have so far proven elusive to prove but are now, thanks to the unique field setup that will be used, possible to test.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Leirs Herwig
- Fellow: Borremans Benny
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
Separating history from natural selection during the co-evolution of hantaviruses and their rodent hosts in Europe.
Abstract
Hantaviruses and their rodent/insectivore hosts are often taken as textbook examples of parasite-host co-evolution. But after closer scrutiny, this relationship is actually not that straightforward: the genetic variation within hantavirus lineages shows topological patterns that are considerably different from those of the hosts. In Europe this could possibly be related to the recolonization pattern since the last ice age, but the reasons behind this pattern remain to be elucidated. The purpose of our study would be to try to unravel the evolutionary drivers (e.g. local adaptation and exctinction, co-speciation, host-switching,..) and their relative roles in shaping the current geographic and allelic distribution of the European hantaviruses and their hosts. The work will be done in close co-operation with several specialized research groups (a.o. the Center of Biology and Management of Populations in Montpellier), utilizing state-of-the-art methods in molecular evolutionary genetics.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Leirs Herwig
- Fellow: Borremans Benny
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project