The broad distribution of macroparasites and their thriving populations are matters health economic concern. Macroparasites cause damage both directly through feeding habits, which impact host fitness, indirectly the transmission various infectious diseases relevance to human domestic animal wildlife conservation. Because impacts on risk disease related abundance, understanding drivers macropar...

Long interspersed elements type 1 (LINE-1s, or L1s) have impacted mammalian genomes at multiple levels. L1 transcription is mainly controlled by its 5' untranslated region (5'UTR), which differs significantly among active human and rodent L1 families. In this review, L1 expression and its regulation are examined in the context of human and rodent development. First, endogenous L1 expression pat...

Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) is an emerging infectious disease first reported in Chile in 1995. Andes hantavirus (ANDV) is responsible for the more than 500 cases of HCPS reported in Chile. Previous work showed that ANDV is genetically differentiated in Chile across contrasting landscapes. To determine whether the reservoir rodent (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus) populations are also ...

More than 2000 animals belonging to six different rodent species and one insectivore species were examined for infection with schistosomes in the region of Richard-Toll, Senegal. Two murid rodents, Arvicanthis niloticus and Mastomys huberti, were found infected with Schistosoma mansoni. Prevalences were about 5% for both rodent species with a mean worm burden of about 20 worms per host. The sex...

Hantaviruses are primarily rodent-borne pathogens which have received considerable attention recently due to their high mortality rates in humans. In order to find the causes of rapid transmission and emergence of hantavirus-associated diseases anthropogenic changes are a priority. These include deforestation, urbanization, noise pollution, light pollution and electromagnetic fields, all of whi...

The mammalian RNase A superfamily comprises a diverse array of ribonucleolytic proteins that have a variety of biochemical activities and physiological functions. Two rapidly evolving RNases of higher primates are of particular interest as they are major secretory proteins of eosinophilic leukocytes and have been found to possess anti-pathogen activities in vitro. To understand how these RNases...

Erythrocyte invasion by malaria parasites is a complex multistep process involving parasite and erythrocyte receptors. It is a critical stage in the parasite life cycle and, therefore, a logical step in which to intervene to prevent or ameliorate disease. Rodent models of malaria, commonly Plasmodium yoelii, are frequently used for studies of malaria pathogenesis. Little is known, however, abou...

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a heparin-binding growth factor that is accumulated in human dysplastic and cystic renal diseases. Previous studies have shown that bFGF can modulate the growth of developing renal tubules; however, its role in the pathogenesis of renal cyst formation is not clearly understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that overexpression of bFGF in developing rode...

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-warnin...