Disease ecology
Research theme
Disease ecology explores the spatiotemporal dynamics and evolution of diseases (e.g. viral, bacterial, fungal) in natural and managed ecosystems. Challenges for NIOO are to identify (a)biotic factors involved in the emergence and persistence of, to assess the impact of diseases on the reproduction and survival of their hosts and to understand and predict the impact of environmental disturbances on the distribution and dynamics of infectious diseases. Our aims are:
- Assess the ecological processes suppressing pathogens in agriculture, aquaculture, and algal wastewater treatment.
- Identify key drivers and knowledge gaps in the spatial and temporal distribution of viruses that are carried by avian hosts and vectors, with special emphasis on the spread of avian influenza, tropical arthropod-borne viruses as well as plant viruses.
We have joined the Netherlands Centre of One Health (www.ncoh.nl) to team up with universities and medical centers working on Wildlife & Ecosystem Health and Antimicrobial Resistance.
Contact
Spotlight
Bird flu has many different sides to it. Wild birds have better protection by nature, but on the other hand, they are 'accused' to bring it to poultry farms, thus causing a lot of damage. NIOO sticks to the facts and publishes ecofactsheets: an ecology based summary with all the facts explained to a wider audience. This bird-flu factsheet is the one we published in 2014 after an outbreak.
