In this research line we investigate how the population ecology of hosts and host-parasite interactions can explain spatial and temporal variation in the presence of an infection. We study how environmental conditions (weather, habitat,…) influence the transmission of an infection directly or through effects on the population dynamics and behaviour of hosts and vectors.
There is a strong focus on microparasitic infections (viruses, bacteria) and on ticks and tick-borne infections. Much of this research is concerned with infections that also cause disease in humans (hantavirus disease, plague, arenaviruses, Lyme borreliosis…).
Observation and experimental studies are extended to mathematical modelling. The work results in better theoretical understanding of the ecology of infections (e.g. on host thresholds, application of percolation theory,…) as well as predictive models that can be useful or public health (e.g. prediction of Nephropathia Epidemica outbreaks in Belgium, distribution of plague in Africa and Central Asia, rodent control for management of Lassa virus, risk factors for tick-borne infections).
Main investigators: Herwig Leirs, Erik Matthysen, Sophie Gryseels
Current postdocs: Luci Kirkpatrick, Vincent Sluydts, Léa Joffrin, Valeria Colombo, Lieselotte Van Bockstal, Joachim Mariën
Current PhD students: Gerardo Fracasso, Mats Van Gestel, Käthe Robert, Bram Vanden Broecke, Laura Cuypers, Rianne van Vredendaal, Anna Pia Piscitelli