scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Anna Meredith

Other affiliations: University of Edinburgh
Bio: Anna Meredith is an academic researcher from University of Melbourne. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sciurus & Population. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 123 publications receiving 1559 citations. Previous affiliations of Anna Meredith include University of Edinburgh.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
11 Nov 2016-Science
TL;DR: Red squirrels in Great Britain have increasingly been observed with leprosy-like lesions on the head and limbs, and using genomics, histopathology, and serology, M. lepromatosis was found in squirrels from England, Ireland, and Scotland, and Mycobacterium leprae in Squirrels from Brownsea Island, England.
Abstract: Leprosy, caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae or the recently discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis, was once endemic in humans in the British Isles. Red squirrels in Great Britain (Sciurus vulgaris) have increasingly been observed with leprosy-like lesions on the head and limbs. Using genomics, histopathology, and serology, we found M. lepromatosis in squirrels from England, Ireland, and Scotland, and M. leprae in squirrels from Brownsea Island, England. Infection was detected in overtly diseased and seemingly healthy animals. Phylogenetic comparisons of British and Irish M. lepromatosis with two Mexican strains from humans show that they diverged from a common ancestor around 27,000 years ago, whereas the M. leprae strain is closest to one that circulated in Medieval England. Red squirrels are thus a reservoir for leprosy in the British Isles.

121 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that the use of animal sentinels has the potential to use variation and enable the exploitation of a wide range of pathogen hosts for surveillance purposes.
Abstract: The dynamics of infectious diseases are highly variable. Host ranges, host responses to pathogens and the relationships between hosts are heterogeneous. Here, we argue that the use of animal sentinels has the potential to use this variation and enable the exploitation of a wide range of pathogen hosts for surveillance purposes. Animal sentinels may be used to address many surveillance questions, but they may currently be underused as a surveillance tool and there is a need for improved interdisciplinary collaboration and communication in order to fully explore the potential of animal sentinels. In different contexts, different animal hosts will themselves vary in their capacity to provide useful information. We describe a conceptual framework within which the characteristics of different host populations and their potential value as sentinels can be evaluated in a broad range of settings.

111 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Overall, there may be considerable zoonotic risks to people involved in the hunting, butchering or consumption of wild meat in Southeast Asia, and these should be considered in public health strategies.
Abstract: The overhunting of wildlife for food and commercial gain presents a major threat to biodiversity in tropical forests and poses health risks to humans from contact with wild animals. Using a recent survey of wildlife offered at wild meat markets in Malaysia as a basis, we review the literature to determine the potential zoonotic infection risks from hunting, butchering and consuming the species offered. We also determine which taxa potentially host the highest number of pathogens and discuss the significant disease risks from traded wildlife, considering how cultural practices influence zoonotic transmission. We identify 51 zoonotic pathogens (16 viruses, 19 bacteria and 16 parasites) potentially hosted by wildlife and describe the human health risks. The Suidae and the Cervidae families potentially host the highest number of pathogens. We conclude that there are substantial gaps in our knowledge of zoonotic pathogens and recommend performing microbial food safety risk assessments to assess the hazards of wild meat consumption. Overall, there may be considerable zoonotic risks to people involved in the hunting, butchering or consumption of wild meat in Southeast Asia, and these should be considered in public health strategies.

90 citations

21 Sep 2012
TL;DR: Divided into sections on viral infections, bacterial infections, fungal and yeast infections, and prion infections, this definitive reference provides valuable information on disease classification and properties, causative agents, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and implications for human, domestic and wild animal health.
Abstract: Infectious Diseases of Wild Mammals and Birds in Europe is a key resource on the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases in European wildlife that covers the distinctive nature of diseases as they occur in Europe, including strains, insect vectors, reservoir species, and climate, as well as geographical distribution of the diseases and European regulations for reporting, diagnosis and control. Divided into sections on viral infections, bacterial infections, fungal and yeast infections, and prion infections, this definitive reference provides valuable information on disease classification and properties, causative agents, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and implications for human, domestic and wild animal health.

78 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

3,734 citations

01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The study concludes that understanding lags first requires agreeing models, definitions and measures, which can be applied in practice, and a second task would be to develop a process by which to gather these data.
Abstract: This study aimed to review the literature describing and quantifying time lags in the health research translation process. Papers were included in the review if they quantified time lags in the development of health interventions. The study identified 23 papers. Few were comparable as different studies use different measures, of different things, at different time points. We concluded that the current state of knowledge of time lags is of limited use to those responsible for R&D and knowledge transfer who face difficulties in knowing what they should or can do to reduce time lags. This effectively ‘blindfolds’ investment decisions and risks wasting effort. The study concludes that understanding lags first requires agreeing models, definitions and measures, which can be applied in practice. A second task would be to develop a process by which to gather these data.

1,429 citations

01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: The first direct evidence of virustransmission from humans to wild apes was reported in this paper, where tissue samples from habituated chimpanzees that died during three respira-tory-disease outbreaks at their research site, Coˆte d'Ivoire, contained two common human paramyxoviruses.
Abstract: Centre for Infection and ImmunityMailman School of Public HealthColumbia UniversityNew York, New York 10032SummaryCommercial hunting and habitat loss are major drivers ofthe rapid decline of great apes [1]. Ecotourism and researchhave been widely promoted as a means of providing alterna-tive value for apes and their habitats [2]. However, closecontact between humans and habituated apes during apetourism and research has raised concerns that diseasetransmission risks might outweigh benefits [3–7]. To dateonly bacterial and parasitic infections of typically lowvirulence have been shown to move from humans to wildapes [8, 9]. Here, we present the first direct evidence of virustransmission from humans to wild apes. Tissue samplesfrom habituated chimpanzees that died during three respira-tory-disease outbreaks at our research site, Coˆte d’Ivoire,contained two common human paramyxoviruses. Viralstrains sampled from chimpanzees were closely related tostrains circulating in contemporaneous, worldwide humanepidemics. Twenty-four years of mortality data from ob-served chimpanzees reveal that such respiratory outbreakscould have a long history. In contrast, survey data showthat research presence has had a strong positive effect insuppressing poaching around the research site. These ob-servations illustrate the challenge of maximizing the benefitof research and tourism to great apes while minimizing thenegative side effects.Results and DiscussionWhen fivedistinct respiratory outbreaks hit three communitiesof habituated chimpanzees at the Tai¨ chimpanzee researchproject in 1999 (north group), 2004 (twice in south group),2005 (south group), and 2006 (south group and east group),we made systematic clinical observations. Morbidity washigh in the outbreaks (Table 1), with an average of 92.2% ofindividuals showing clinical symptoms, including elevatedbreathing rate, conspicuous breathing sounds, breathingwith mouth open, sneezing, and either dry or humid cough.Heavily affected animals showed a decrease in daily-foodintake and signs of weakness such as increased resting timeand decreased ability to keep up with other animals or to sus-tain physical activity. Recovery without medical interventionwas not observed in such advanced cases. Time from firstvisible symptoms to death ranged from 1 day for infants to11 days for adults.Three of the outbreaks resulted in mortalities, killing at least6 of 32 (19%) individuals in the north group and 8 of 44 (18%)individuals in 2004 and 1 of 34 (3%) in 2006 in the south group.Mortality was age specific, with mainly juveniles and infantsdying during the 2004 outbreak in south group and a higherproportion of adults dying during the 1999 outbreak in thenorth group (Table 1). We were able to perform necropsy andpathological and histological analyses on seven of thesevictims found shortly after death. The main pathologic andhistopathologic changes were observed in lung tissue, withsevere purulent multifocal bronchopneumonia, lung edemain all lobes, and involvement of the upper respiratory tract.Necropsy samples were screened for respiratory pathogensbyusingdifferentPCRmethods.Asformosthumanrespiratorycases, a mix of bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens wasfound in the lungs. The most common bacterium was Strepto-coccus pneumoniae, which was found in all respiratory out-breaks. In addition, Pasteurella multocida played a role in the2004 outbreak [10]. All available samples tested positive forone of two paramyxoviruses: human respiratory syncytial virus(HRSV) was diagnosed in two individuals that died in the 1999north group outbreak and in one adult female (east group) andone infant (south group) who died in the 2006 outbreak, which

363 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Tissue samples from habituated chimpanzees that died during three respiratory-disease outbreaks at the research site, Côte d'Ivoire, contained two common human paramyxoviruses, the first direct evidence of virus transmission from humans to wild apes.

359 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is disclosed that apparently healthy cotwins in discordant pairs have viromes associated with, although not necessarily mediators, of SAM; as such, they provide a human model for delineating normal versus perturbed postnatal acquisition and retention of the gut microbiota’s viral component in populations at risk for malnutrition.
Abstract: The bacterial component of the human gut microbiota undergoes a definable program of postnatal development. Evidence is accumulating that this program is disrupted in children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and that their persistent gut microbiota immaturity, which is not durably repaired with current ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) interventions, is causally related to disease pathogenesis. To further characterize gut microbial community development in healthy versus malnourished infants/children, we performed a time-series metagenomic study of DNA isolated from virus-like particles (VLPs) recovered from fecal samples collected during the first 30 mo of postnatal life from eight pairs of mono- and dizygotic Malawian twins concordant for healthy growth and 12 twin pairs discordant for SAM. Both members of discordant pairs were sampled just before, during, and after treatment with a peanut-based RUTF. Using Random Forests and a dataset of 17,676 viral contigs assembled from shotgun sequencing reads of VLP DNAs, we identified viruses that distinguish different stages in the assembly of the gut microbiota in the concordant healthy twin pairs. This developmental program is impaired in both members of SAM discordant pairs and not repaired with RUTF. Phage plus members of the Anelloviridae and Circoviridae families of eukaryotic viruses discriminate discordant from concordant healthy pairs. These results disclose that apparently healthy cotwins in discordant pairs have viromes associated with, although not necessarily mediators, of SAM; as such, they provide a human model for delineating normal versus perturbed postnatal acquisition and retention of the gut microbiota’s viral component in populations at risk for malnutrition.

248 citations