Dr David Omondi

Research interests

I am a vector biologist specialising in vector-borne diseases and host–pathogen interactions. My early work at ICIPE (Nairobi) focused on studying the feeding preferences of wild-caught mosquitoes by analysing their blood meals and viral infection status, as well as investigating tick-borne pathogens in pastoral communities across Kenya. During a research stay in Berlin, I examined the transcriptomic responses of Amblyomma ticks to Ehrlichia ruminantium, the pathogen responsible for heartwater disease in livestock. Currently, I am engaged in a BBSRC-funded project at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), researching the use of Wolbachia as a biological control agent in Culex mosquitoes and its antiviral effects against Usutu and West Nile viruses. My developing research interest focuses on how gut microbiomes impact mosquito mating behaviour, especially the role of certain bacterial communities in mating success. I aim to create innovative, probiotic-based strategies to improve the efficacy of sterile males in mosquito control programmes, with potential applications in disease-endemic areas. https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/research/research-career-progression/director%E2%80%99s-catalyst-fund/david-omondi-ouma 

Teaching

At the LSTM, I contribute to teaching in medical entomology and vector biology, emphasising how insect microbiomes and symbiotic microorganisms influence mosquito physiology, behaviour, and pathogen transmission and how these interactions can be leveraged to create novel vector control strategies.

Selected research publications

De novo assembly and annotation of the Amblyomma hebraeum tick midgut transcriptome response to Ehrlichia ruminantium infection – Journal: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases – Published: 1st August 2023

The Piroplasmida Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria in farm and companion animals: species compilation, molecular phylogeny, and evolutionary insights: species compilation, molecular phylogeny, and evolutionary insights – Journal: Parasitology Research – Published: 1st May 2022

Vertical transmission of naturally occurring Bunyamwera and insect-specific flavivirus infections in mosquitoes from islands and mainland shores of Lakes Victoria and Baringo in Kenya – Journal: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases – Published: 1st November 2018

Composition of Anopheles mosquitoes, their blood-meal hosts, and Plasmodium falciparum infection rates in three islands with disparate bed net coverage in Lake Victoria, Kenya – Journal: Malaria Journal – Published: 8th September 2017

Molecular detection of tick-borne pathogen diversities in ticks from livestock and reptiles along the shores and adjacent Islands of Lake Victoria and Lake Baringo, Kenya – Journal: Frontiers in Veterinary Science – Published: 1st June 2017

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