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All Outputs (60)

Epidemiological investigation of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in a Vietnamese bear rescue centre (2024)
Journal Article
Ludi, A., Baker, H., Sanki, R., De Jong, R., Maryan, J., Walker, M., King, D., Gubbins, S., Limon, G., & Officer, K. (2024). Epidemiological investigation of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in a Vietnamese bear rescue centre. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2024.1389029

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks affecting Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) and a Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) were previously reported in 2011 in two housing facilities at a Vietnamese bear rescue centre. In this study, demogra... Read More about Epidemiological investigation of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in a Vietnamese bear rescue centre.

The lymphatic filariasis treatment study landscape: A systematic review of study characteristics and the case for an individual participant data platform (2024)
Journal Article
Freitas, L. T., Khan, M. A., Uddin, A., Halder, J. B., Singh-Phulgenda, S., Raja, J. D., Balakrishnan, V., Harriss, E., Rahi, M., Brack, M., Guérin, P. J., Basáñez, M.-G., Kumar, A., Walker, M., & Srividya, A. (in press). The lymphatic filariasis treatment study landscape: A systematic review of study characteristics and the case for an individual participant data platform. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 18(1), e0011882. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011882

Modelling flock heterogeneity in the transmission of peste des petits ruminants virus and its impact on the effectiveness of vaccination for eradication (2023)
Journal Article
Savagar, B., Jones, B. A., Arnold, M., Walker, M., & Fournié, G. (2023). Modelling flock heterogeneity in the transmission of peste des petits ruminants virus and its impact on the effectiveness of vaccination for eradication. Epidemics, 45, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2023.100725

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute infectious disease of small ruminants targeted for global eradication by 2030. The Global Strategy for Control and Eradication (GSCE) recommends mass vaccination targeting 70% coverage of small ruminant po... Read More about Modelling flock heterogeneity in the transmission of peste des petits ruminants virus and its impact on the effectiveness of vaccination for eradication.

Reaching the World Health Organization elimination targets for schistosomiasis: the importance of a One Health perspective (2023)
Journal Article
Diaz, A., Walker, M., & Webster, J. (2023). Reaching the World Health Organization elimination targets for schistosomiasis: the importance of a One Health perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 378(1887), https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0274

The past three years has seen the launch of a new World Health Organization (WHO) neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) roadmap, together with revised control and elimination guidelines. Across all, there is now a clear emphasis on the need to incorpora... Read More about Reaching the World Health Organization elimination targets for schistosomiasis: the importance of a One Health perspective.

Can mass drug administration of moxidectin accelerate onchocerciasis elimination in Africa? (2023)
Journal Article
Kura, K., Milton, P., Hamley, J., Walker, M., Bakajika, D., Kanza, E., Opoku, N., Howard, H., Nigo, M., Asare, S., Olipoh, G., Attah, S., Mambandu, G., Kennedy, K., Kataliko, K., Mumbere, M., Halleux, C., Hopkins, A., Kuesel, A., Kinrade, S., & Basáñez, M. (2023). Can mass drug administration of moxidectin accelerate onchocerciasis elimination in Africa?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 378(1887), https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0277

Epidemiological and modelling studies suggest that elimination of Onchocerca volvulus transmission (EoT) throughout Africa may not be achievable with annual mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin alone, particularly in areas of high endemicity... Read More about Can mass drug administration of moxidectin accelerate onchocerciasis elimination in Africa?.

Sensitivity and specificity of human point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) test in African livestock for rapid diagnosis of schistosomiasis: A Bayesian latent class analysis (2023)
Journal Article
Calvo-Urbano, B., Leger, E., Gabain, I., De Dood, C., Diouf, N., Borlase, A., Rudge, J., Corstjens, P., Sene, M., Van Dam, G., Walker, M., & Webster, J. (2023). Sensitivity and specificity of human point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) test in African livestock for rapid diagnosis of schistosomiasis: A Bayesian latent class analysis. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 17(5), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010739

Schistosomiasis is a major neglected tropical disease (NTD) affecting both humans and animals. The morbidity and mortality inflicted upon livestock in the Afrotropical region has been largely overlooked, in part due to a lack of validated sensitive a... Read More about Sensitivity and specificity of human point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) test in African livestock for rapid diagnosis of schistosomiasis: A Bayesian latent class analysis.

Modelling the control of bovine brucellosis in India (2023)
Journal Article
Holt, H., Walker, M., Beauvais, W., Kaur, P., Bedi, J., Mangtani, P., Sharma, N., Gill, J., Godfroid, J., McGiven, J., & Guitian, J. (2023). Modelling the control of bovine brucellosis in India. Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 20(200), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0756

Brucellosis imposes substantial impacts on livestock production and public health worldwide. A stochastic, age-structured model incorporating herd demographics was developed describing within- and between-herd transmission of Brucella abortus in dair... Read More about Modelling the control of bovine brucellosis in India.

Modeling the effectiveness of One Health interventions against the zoonotic hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum (2023)
Journal Article
Walker, M., Lambert, S., Neves, M., Worsley, A., Traub, R., & Colella, V. (2023). Modeling the effectiveness of One Health interventions against the zoonotic hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. Frontiers in Medicine, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1092030

Hookworm disease is a major global public health concern, annually affecting 500-700 million of the world's poorest people. The World Health Organization is targeting the elimination of hookworm as a public health problem by 2030 using a strategy of... Read More about Modeling the effectiveness of One Health interventions against the zoonotic hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum.

Demographic patterns of human antibody levels to Simulium damnosum s.l. saliva in onchocerciasis-endemic areas: An indicator of exposure to vector bites (2022)
Journal Article
Willen, L., Milton, P., Hamley, J., Walker, M., Osei-Atweneboana, M., Volf, P., Basanez, M., & Courtenay, O. (2022). Demographic patterns of human antibody levels to Simulium damnosum s.l. saliva in onchocerciasis-endemic areas: An indicator of exposure to vector bites. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16(1), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010108

BackgroundIn onchocerciasis endemic areas in Africa, heterogenous biting rates by blackfly vectors on humans are assumed to partially explain age- and sex-dependent infection patterns with Onchocerca volvulus. To underpin these assumptions and furthe... Read More about Demographic patterns of human antibody levels to Simulium damnosum s.l. saliva in onchocerciasis-endemic areas: An indicator of exposure to vector bites.

Is the incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis declining? (2022)
Journal Article
Milne, G., Webster, J., & Walker, M. (2022). Is the incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis declining?. Trends in Parasitology, 39(1), 26-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2022.10.003

Prenatal infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii can cause con-genital toxoplasmosis (CT), an often fatal or lifelong-disabling condition. Several studies of human populations have reported temporal decreases in seroprevalence, sugges... Read More about Is the incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis declining?.

Potential drivers for schistosomiasis persistence: Population genetic analyses from a cluster-randomized urogenital schistosomiasis elimination trial across the Zanzibar islands (2022)
Journal Article
Pennance, T., Neves, M. I., Webster, B. L., Gower, C. M., Knopp, S., Khamis, I. S., Ame, S. M., Ali, S. M., Rabone, M., Emery, A., Allan, F., Muhsin, M. A., Suleiman, K. R., Kabole, F., Walker, M., Rollinson, D., & Webster, J. P. (2022). Potential drivers for schistosomiasis persistence: Population genetic analyses from a cluster-randomized urogenital schistosomiasis elimination trial across the Zanzibar islands. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16(10), e0010419. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010419

Modelling livestock test-and-treat: A novel One Health strategy to control schistosomiasis and mitigate drug resistance (2022)
Journal Article
Díaz, A. V., Lambert, S., Neves, M. I., Borlase, A., Léger, E., Diouf, N. D., Sène, M., Webster, J. P., & Walker, M. (2022). Modelling livestock test-and-treat: A novel One Health strategy to control schistosomiasis and mitigate drug resistance. Frontiers in Tropical Diseases, 3, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fitd.2022.893066

Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, is a widespread chronic helminthiasis reported in 78 countries, predominantly those within sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Latin America, Asia, and most recently, even Europe. Species of the causative blo... Read More about Modelling livestock test-and-treat: A novel One Health strategy to control schistosomiasis and mitigate drug resistance.

Global variation in force-of-infection trends for human Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis (2022)
Journal Article
Dixon, M., Winskill, P., Harrison, W., Whittaker, C., Schmidt, V., Sanchez, A., Cucunuba, Z., Edia-Asuke, A., Walker, M., & Basanez, M. (2022). Global variation in force-of-infection trends for human Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis. eLife, 11, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.76988

Infection by Taenia solium poses a major burden across endemic countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) 2021-2030 Neglected Tropical Diseases roadmap has proposed that 30% of endemic countries achieve intensified T. solium control in hyperendem... Read More about Global variation in force-of-infection trends for human Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis.

Using trained dogs and organic semi-conducting sensors to identify asymptomatic and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections: an observational study (2022)
Journal Article
Guest, C., Dewhirst, S. Y., Lindsay, S. W., Allen, D. J., Aziz, S., Baerenbold, O., Bradley, J., Chabildas, U., Chen-Hussey, V., Clifford, S., Cottis, L., Dennehy, J., Foley, E., Gezan, S. A., Gibson, T., Greaves, C. K., Kleinschmidt, I., Lambert, S., Last, A., Morant, S., …COVID Dogs Research Team. (2022). Using trained dogs and organic semi-conducting sensors to identify asymptomatic and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections: an observational study. Journal of Travel Medicine, 29(3), https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taac043

Improving anthelmintic treatment for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases through sharing and reuse of individual participant data (2022)
Journal Article
Walker, M., Freitas, L. T., Halder, J. B., Brack, M., Keiser, J., King, C. H., Levecke, B., Ai-Lian Lim, Y., Pieri, O., Sow, D., Stothard, J. R., Webster, J. P., Zhou, X.-N., Terry, R. F., Guérin, P. J., & Basáñez, M.-G. (in press). Improving anthelmintic treatment for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases through sharing and reuse of individual participant data. Wellcome Open Research, 7, 5. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17468.1

What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the next decade of onchocerciasis control and elimination? (2021)
Journal Article
Hamley, J., Blok, D., Walker, M., Milton, P., Hopkins, A., Hamill, L., Downs, P., de Vlas, S., Stolk, W., & Basanez, M. (2021). What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the next decade of onchocerciasis control and elimination?. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, 115(3), 269-280. https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/traa193

Background: Mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin for onchocerciasis has been disrupted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Mathematical modelling can help predict how missed/delayed MDA will affect short-term epidemiological... Read More about What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the next decade of onchocerciasis control and elimination?.

Taking the strain out of onchocerciasis? A reanalysis of blindness and transmission data does not support the existence of a savannah blinding strain of onchocerciasis in West Africa (2021)
Book Chapter
Cheke, R., Little, K., Young, S., Walker, M., & Basanez, M. (2021). Taking the strain out of onchocerciasis? A reanalysis of blindness and transmission data does not support the existence of a savannah blinding strain of onchocerciasis in West Africa. In R. Stothard, & D. Rollinson (Eds.), . https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.apar.2021.01.002

Onchocerciasis (also known as `river blindness'), is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by the (Simulium-transmitted) filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. The occurrence of `blinding' (savannah) and non-blinding (forest) parasite strains and... Read More about Taking the strain out of onchocerciasis? A reanalysis of blindness and transmission data does not support the existence of a savannah blinding strain of onchocerciasis in West Africa.

Scaling-Down Mass Ivermectin Treatment for Onchocerciasis Elimination: Modeling the Impact of the Geographical Unit for Decision Making (2021)
Journal Article
Stolk, W., Blok, D., Hamley, J., Cantey, P., de Vlas, S., Walker, M., & Basanez, M. (2021). Scaling-Down Mass Ivermectin Treatment for Onchocerciasis Elimination: Modeling the Impact of the Geographical Unit for Decision Making. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 72, S165-S171. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab238

Background. Due to spatial heterogeneity in onchocerciasis transmission, the duration of ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA) required for eliminating onchocerciasis will vary within endemic areas and the occurrence of transmission "hotspots" is... Read More about Scaling-Down Mass Ivermectin Treatment for Onchocerciasis Elimination: Modeling the Impact of the Geographical Unit for Decision Making.

Hybridized Zoonotic Schistosoma Infections Result in Hybridized Morbidity Profiles: A Clinical Morbidity Study amongst Co-Infected Human Populations of Senegal (2021)
Journal Article
Fall, C., Lambert, S., Leger, E., Yasenev, L., Garba, A., Diop, S., Borlase, A., Catalano, S., Faye, B., Walker, M., Sene, M., & Webster, J. (2021). Hybridized Zoonotic Schistosoma Infections Result in Hybridized Morbidity Profiles: A Clinical Morbidity Study amongst Co-Infected Human Populations of Senegal. Microorganisms, 9(8), https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9081776

Hybridization of infectious agents is a major emerging public and veterinary health concern at the interface of evolution, epidemiology, and control. Whilst evidence of the extent of hybridization amongst parasites is increasing, their impact on morb... Read More about Hybridized Zoonotic Schistosoma Infections Result in Hybridized Morbidity Profiles: A Clinical Morbidity Study amongst Co-Infected Human Populations of Senegal.