The Vector-Borne Disease Ecology Lab

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The Vector-Borne Disease Ecology Lab

The Vector-Borne Disease Ecology Lab aims to advance understanding of how ecological context influences vector populations and the pathogens they transmit, with a view to inform control. Our group combines field and laboratory-based research with statistical and dynamical modelling. Current projects focus on zoonotic pathogens with multiple host species.

Current projects

Aedes distribution maps

‘Aedes distribution maps’ is a prototype web-based application written in R Shiny to explore Africa-specific habitat suitability maps for Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, alongside known species occurrence records.

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Publications

Lord, J.S., Leyland, R., Haines, L.R., Barreaux, A.M.G., Bonsall, M.B., Torr, S.J.&et al (2021) Effects of maternal age and stress on offspring quality in a viviparous fly. Ecology Letters, 24, 2113– 2122. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13839

Jennifer S Lord, Michael B Bonsall, The evolutionary dynamics of viruses: virion release strategies, time delays and fitness minima, Virus Evolution, Volume 7, Issue 1, January 2021, veab039, https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veab039

Lord, J.S., Leyland, R., Haines, L.R., Barreaux, A.M.G., Bonsall, M.B., Torr, S.J.&et al (2021) Effects of maternal age and stress on offspring quality in a viviparous fly. Ecology Letters, 24, 2113– 2122. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13839

Lord JS. Changes in Rice and Livestock Production and the Potential Emergence of Japanese Encephalitis in Africa. Pathogens. 2021; 10(3):294. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030294

Lord JS, Gurley ES, Pulliam JRC (2015) Rethinking Japanese Encephalitis Virus Transmission: A Framework for Implicating Host and Vector Species. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 9(12):e0004074. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004074

Lord, JS, Torr, SJ, Auty, HK, et al. Geostatistical models using remotely-sensed data predict savanna tsetse decline across the interface between protected and unprotected areas in Serengeti, Tanzania. J Appl Ecol. 2018; 55: 1997– 2007. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13091

Longbottom, J., Caminade, C., Gibson, H.S. et al. Modelling the impact of climate change on the distribution and abundance of tsetse in Northern Zimbabwe. Parasites Vectors 13, 526 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04398-3

Lord JS, Hargrove JW, Torr SJ, Vale GA (2018) Climate change and African trypanosomiasis vector populations in Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley: A mathematical modelling study. PLoS Med 15(10): e1002675. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002675

Harriet Auty, Liam J. Morrison, Stephen J. Torr, Jennifer Lord,
Transmission Dynamics of Rhodesian Sleeping Sickness at the Interface of Wildlife and Livestock Areas,
Trends in Parasitology, Volume 32, Issue 8, 2016, Pages 608-621, ISSN 1471-4922,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2016.05.003.

Lord JS, Lea RS, Allan FK, Byamungu M, Hall DR, Lingley J, et al. (2020) Assessing the effect of insecticide-treated cattle on tsetse abundance and trypanosome transmission at the wildlife-livestock interface in Serengeti, Tanzania. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 14(8): e0008288. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008288

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