Publications by authors named "Lucas Huggins"

The diversity and prevalence of canine vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in Bhutan have to date remained unexplored, whilst recent epidemiological surveys in other South Asian nations have found diseases caused by VBPs to be rife in local dog populations. Importantly, many of such VBPs can infect people as well, with a building body of evidence identifying potentially zoonotic rickettsial organisms infecting humans in Bhutan. Given the lack of data on canine pathogens in Bhutan we employed a suite of deep-sequencing metabarcoding methods using Oxford Nanopore Technologies' MinION™ device to holistically characterise the bacterial, apicomplexan and filarial worm blood-borne pathogens of dogs in the country's south.

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Bacterial vector-borne pathogens (BVBPs) negatively impact canine health worldwide, with several also being zoonotic, posing an additional disease risk to humans. To date, BVBPs have been reported in humans and various sylvatic and domestic animal hosts across multiple Mongolian aimags (provinces); however, there has been no published data on these pathogens within Mongolia's canine populations. Collection of such data is important given Mongolia's size, diverse number of climatic regions, and large population of dogs, most of which closely share their environment with humans and livestock.

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Background: Filarial worms are important vector-borne pathogens of a large range of animal hosts, including humans, and are responsible for numerous debilitating neglected tropical diseases such as, lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia spp., as well as loiasis caused by Loa loa. Moreover, some emerging or difficult-to-eliminate filarioid pathogens are zoonotic using animals like canines as reservoir hosts, for example Dirofilaria sp.

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In 2016, the World Health Organization declared Sri Lanka as having successfully eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health concern. However, in recent decades, several infections with subperiodic filarial species suggestive of zoonotic infections have been recorded across the country. The arthropod-borne filarioids , , and are historically known to be endemic in dogs in Sri Lanka.

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Apicomplexan haemoparasites generate significant morbidity and mortality in humans and other animals, particularly in many low-to-middle income countries. Malaria caused by Plasmodium remains responsible for some of the highest numbers of annual deaths of any human pathogen, whilst piroplasmids, such as Babesia and Theileria can have immense negative economic effects through livestock loss. Diagnosing haemoparasites via traditional methods like microscopy is challenging due to low-level and transient parasitaemia.

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Dog-infecting haemotropic mycoplasmas (haemoplasmas), such as Mycoplasma haemocanis and Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum are common blood-borne pathogens of canines that can potentially inflict a substantial burden of disease, particularly in immunosuppressed individuals. Nonetheless, the transmission of these pathogens remains debated as more evidence emerges that they may not be transmitted by vectors, but instead use alternative methods such as aggressive interactions and vertical transmission. Here, we treated forty dogs with two different topically-acting ectoparasiticide products able to prevent vector-borne pathogen infections during an 8-month community trial in Cambodia.

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Vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) of canines are a diverse range of infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, protozoa and multicellular parasites, that are pernicious and potentially lethal to their hosts. Dogs across the globe are afflicted by canine VBPs, but the range of different ectoparasites and the VBPs that they transmit predominate in tropical regions. Countries within the Asia-Pacific have had limited prior research dedicated to exploring the epidemiology of canine VBPs, whilst the few studies that have been conducted show VBP prevalence to be high, with significant impacts on dog health.

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Dogs across the globe are afflicted by diverse blood- and vector-borne bacteria (VBB), many of which cause severe disease and can be fatal. Diagnosis of VBB infections can be challenging due to the low concentration of bacteria in the blood, the frequent occurrence of coinfections, and the wide range of known, emerging, and potentially novel VBB species encounterable. Therefore, there is a need for diagnostics that address these challenges by being both sensitive and capable of detecting all VBB simultaneously.

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The tropical brown dog tick, , commonly infests canines in the tropics and is an important vector for disease-causing and sometimes lethal pathogens including spp., , and . In tropical climates ticks and their pathogens exert an extremely high infection pressure on unprotected dogs.

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Article Synopsis
  • There's a serious lack of information about zoonotic vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which increases the risk of infections for locals and hampers control programs.
  • Using a new microfluidic qPCR assay, researchers tested 408 dogs and found that around 50% were infected with various VBPs, including Leishmania infantum, which was prevalent in urban areas.
  • The study revealed higher infection rates than previous methods and identified rare pathogens in dogs, highlighting the urgent need for better surveillance and control efforts for VBPs in the region.
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Recent surveys in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, have identified canine vector-borne pathogens (VBPs), including those with zoonotic potential, as highly prevalent. The lack of veterinary care alongside the close association semidomesticated dogs have with humans in the region exacerbates these zoonotic risks. Nonetheless, the number of studies investigating such pathogens and the threats they pose to dog and human health is limited.

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The Asia-Pacific hosts a large diversity of canine vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) with some of the most common and most pathogenic, generating significant mortality as well as a spectrum of health impacts on local dog populations. The VBPs , , , , and haemotropic spp. are all endemic throughout the region, with many exhibiting shifting geographical distributions that warrant urgent attention.

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Bacterial canine vector-borne diseases are responsible for some of the most life-threatening conditions of dogs in the tropics and are typically poorly researched with some presenting a zoonotic risk to cohabiting people. Next-generation sequencing based methodologies have been demonstrated to accurately characterise a diverse range of vector-borne bacteria in dogs, whilst also proving to be more sensitive than conventional PCR techniques. We report two improvements to a previously developed metabarcoding tool that increased the sensitivity and diversity of vector-borne bacteria detected from canine blood.

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Haemoparasites are responsible for some of the most prevalent and debilitating canine illnesses across the globe, whilst also posing a significant zoonotic risk to humankind. Nowhere are the effects of such parasites more pronounced than in developing countries in the tropics where the abundance and diversity of ectoparasites that transmit these pathogens reaches its zenith. Here we describe the use of a novel next-generation sequencing (NGS) metabarcoding based approach to screen for a range of blood-borne apicomplexan and kinetoplastid parasites from populations of temple dogs in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Article Synopsis
  • Bacterial vector-borne diseases (VBD) significantly impact dog health, particularly in tropical regions where a variety of ectoparasites thrive and transmit infections.
  • The study utilized next-generation sequencing (NGS) metabarcoding to identify various bacterial VBD in semi-domesticated dogs in Bangkok, revealing high rates of infections from notable pathogens like Ehrlichia canis and less common ones like Bartonella spp.
  • The NGS approach proved more effective than traditional diagnostic methods for detecting co-infections and rare pathogens, emphasizing the need for advanced screening tools in under-researched tropical areas.
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  • The article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185151 has been corrected for accuracy.
  • These corrections are important to ensure that the information presented in the article is reliable and up-to-date.
  • Readers are encouraged to refer to the corrected version for the most accurate data and conclusions.
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Article Synopsis
  • Anthropogenic disturbances like habitat destruction and climate change have drastically impacted global biodiversity, especially amphibians, with one-third facing extinction threats.
  • Amphibians are crucial for ecosystem health and serve as bioindicators, highlighting their importance despite their current decline.
  • The study introduced a non-invasive PCR method to detect parasitic nematode DNA from amphibian feces, successfully identifying infections in various species and demonstrating its applicability for other hosts.
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