Xth EMOP, August 2008

Multidisciplinary studies, systems approaches and parasite eco-epidemiology: something old, something new

¹ Department of Chrono-environment, University of Franche-Comté, UMR CNRS 6249 usc INRA, 1, place Leclerc, F-25030 Besançon cedex, France
² Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK

^* Correspondence: Patrick Giraudoux. Tel.: +33 (0)3 81 66 57 45 – Fax: +33 (0)3 81 66 57 97. E-mail: patrick.giraudoux@univ-fcomte.fr

Abstract

Parasite requires an understanding of complex transmission systems where individual, population and environmental factors and their interactions can hardly been considered separately. Moreover, the importance of space and time in host population and parasite transmission processes is increasingly recognised. The present review illustrates how epidemiology and transmission ecology have evolved in a multidisciplinary framework to a systems approach that includes both spatial and temporal dimensions. Focusing on population processes, three significant challenges are discussed: (i) integration of landscape ecology concepts and modelling across time-space scales, (ii) development of molecular methods that permits easy parasite/host identification and process tracking (e.g. host and parasite movements), and (iii) integration of sociology methods to estimate zoonotic risk and exposure.