Variability in infection dynamics emerges from the interplay between unique host and pathogen characteristics.

Variation in infection dynamics across host species can profoundly influence parasite epidemiology, ecology, and evolution. However, because experiments involving multiple hosts and multiple parasite species that capture the full infection dynamics within hosts are rare, the underlying mechanisms of host heterogeneity effects across different parasite species remain largely unknown. We dissected the specific roles of host and pathogen effects in shaping within-host infection dynamics using a model system comprising three coexisting rodent species from Israel's northwestern Negev Desert and their predominant bacterial pathogens, Bartonella krasnovii A2 and Mycoplasma haemomuris-like bacterium.

population genetics in Iberian rodents provides insights into its introduction from Africa.

This study investigated the prevalence and genetic diversity of in 341 native rodents in a riparian habitat in the Mediterranean part of Spain. Polycephalic larvae were found in 32% of wood mice ( = 84) and 0.4% of Algerian mice ( = 257) examined, with a significantly higher prevalence in the former.

Molecular ecology of novel amdoparvoviruses and old protoparvoviruses in Spanish wild carnivorans.

Wild carnivorans are key hosts of parvoviruses of relevance for animal health and wildlife conservation. However, the distribution and diversity of parvoviruses among wild carnivorans are under-investigated, particularly in Southern Europe. We evaluated the presence, spread, and diversity of multi-host protoparvoviruses (canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2), feline panleukopenia virus (FPV)), and amdoparvoviruses in 12 carnivoran species from Northern Spain to explore viral ecology.

Description of Rhipicephalus hibericus sp. nov. (Ixodoidea: Ixodidae), a species of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group in southwestern Europe.

We describe all the life stages of Rhipicephalus hibericus n. sp., provide the types, and present molecular support for a new species of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato group, present in southwestern Europe, that has been historically confused with Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantzev, 1940.

High diversity, novel genotypes, and vertical transmission of hemotropic Mycoplasma in micromammals.

Hemotropic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas) are emerging zoonotic pathogens. Micromammals have received little attention as hosts for hemoplasmas despite their ubiquitous presence, high population abundances, and close association with humans. A PCR protocol targeting a fragment of the 16 S rRNA gene and direct sequencing in blood samples of 189 adult specimens and 35 fetuses belonging to three species of Eulipotyphla (shrews) and seven species of Rodentia, captured in three ecologically diverse habitats in North-Eastern Spain (Steppe, High Mountain, Mediterranean) yielded and occurrence of 26%, including 36% of 39 shrews and 23% of 150 rodents.

Strengthening the genomic surveillance of by using culture-free whole-genome sequencing from biological samples.

Introduction: is a highly infectious bacterium that causes the zoonotic disease tularemia. The development of genotyping methods, especially those based on whole-genome sequencing (WGS), has recently increased the knowledge on the epidemiology of this disease. However, due to the difficulties associated with the growth and isolation of this fastidious pathogen in culture, the availability of strains and subsequently WGS data is still limited.

Bartonella infections are prevalent in rodents despite efficient immune responses.

Background: Pathogens face strong selection from host immune responses, yet many host populations support pervasive pathogen populations. We investigated this puzzle in a model system of Bartonella and rodents from Israel's northwestern Negev Desert. We chose to study this system because, in this region, 75-100% of rodents are infected with Bartonella at any given time, despite an efficient immunological response.

Viral Zoonoses in Small Wild Mammals and Detection of Hantavirus, Spain.

We screened 526 wild small mammals for zoonotic viruses in northwest Spain and found hantavirus in common voles (Microtus arvalis) (1.5%) and high prevalence (48%) of orthopoxvirus among western Mediterranean mice (Mus spretus). We also detected arenavirus among small mammals.

A road map for in vivo evolution experiments with blood-borne parasitic microbes.

Laboratory experiments in which blood-borne parasitic microbes evolve in their animal hosts offer an opportunity to study parasite evolution and adaptation in real time and under natural settings. The main challenge of these experiments is to establish a protocol that is both practical over multiple passages and accurately reflects natural transmission scenarios and mechanisms. We provide a guide to the steps that should be considered when designing such a protocol, and we demonstrate its use via a case study.

Patterns of flea infestation in rodents and insectivores from intensified agro-ecosystems, Northwest Spain.

Background: Fleas frequently infest small mammals and play important vectoring roles in the epidemiology of (re)emerging zoonotic disease. Rodent outbreaks in intensified agro-ecosystems of North-West Spain have been recently linked to periodic zoonotic diseases spillover to local human populations. Obtaining qualitative and quantitative information about the composition and structure of the whole flea and small mammal host coexisting communities is paramount to understand disease transmission cycles and to elucidate the disease-vectoring role of flea species.

Zoonotic Bacteria in Fleas Parasitizing Common Voles, Northwestern Spain.

We detected Francisella tularensis and Bartonella spp. in fleas parasitizing common voles (Microtus arvalis) from northwestern Spain; mean prevalence was 6.1% for F.

Numerical response of a mammalian specialist predator to multiple prey dynamics in Mediterranean farmlands.

The study of rodent population cycles has greatly contributed, both theoretically and empirically, to our understanding of the circumstances under which predator-prey interactions destabilize populations. According to the specialist predator hypothesis, reciprocal interactions between voles and small predators that specialize on voles, such as weasels, can cause multiannual cycles. A fundamental feature of classical weasel-vole models is a long time-lag in the numerical response of the predator to variations in prey abundance: weasel abundance increases with that of voles and peaks approximately 1 yr later.

Zoonotic pathogens in fluctuating common vole (Microtus arvalis) populations: occurrence and dynamics.

Diseases and host dynamics are linked, but their associations may vary in strength, be time-lagged, and depend on environmental influences. Where a vector is involved in disease transmission, its dynamics are an additional influence, and we often lack a general understanding on how diseases, hosts and vectors interact. We report on the occurrence of six zoonotic arthropod-borne pathogens (Anaplasma, Bartonella, Borrelia, Coxiella, Francisella and Rickettsia) in common voles (Microtus arvalis) throughout a population fluctuation and how their prevalence varies according to host density, seasonality and vector prevalence.

Density-Dependent Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in Fluctuating Vole Populations, Northwestern Spain.

Tularemia in humans in northwestern Spain is associated with increases in vole populations. Prevalence of infection with Francisella tularensis in common voles increased to 33% during a vole population fluctuation. This finding confirms that voles are spillover agents for zoonotic outbreaks.

Tularemia Outbreaks and Common Vole (Microtus arvalis) Irruptive Population Dynamics in Northwestern Spain, 1997-2014.

During the last decades, large tularemia outbreaks in humans have coincided in time and space with population outbreaks of common voles in northwestern Spain, leading us to hypothesize that this rodent species acts as a key spillover agent of Francisella tularensis in the region. Here, we evaluate for the first time a potential link between irruptive vole numbers and human tularemia outbreaks in Spain. We compiled vole abundance estimates obtained through live-trapping monitoring studies and official reports of human tularemia cases during the period 1997-2014.