title: Wilderness in the 'city' revisited: different urbes shape transmission of Echinococcus multilocularis by altering predator and prey communities.
abstract: The urbanization of Echinococcus multilocularis, the agent of alveolar echinococcosis (AE), is a public health concern worldwide. Here we propose to consider 'urban' habitats under a broad ecological perspective and discuss the effects of human settlements (urbes) on host communities and the process of parasite urbanization. We argue that interactions between landscape features (i.e., landscape composition and configuration) and host communities can shape the heterogeneity of transmission gradients observed within and across different types of human settlement. Due to unique ecological characteristics and public health management priorities, we envisage urban landscapes as a model system to further increase our understanding of host-parasite interactions shaping the circulation of E. multilocularis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liccioli
authors.affiliation: Chrono-environment Lab, UMR6249 and Institut Universitaire de France University of Franche-Comté and CNRS, Besançon, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giraudoux
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deplazes
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada; O'Brien Institute for Public Health, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada. Electronic address: amassolo@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Massolo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D048210:Echinococcus multilocularis / Q000502:physiology; D020387:Food Chain; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Echinococcus multilocularis; heterogeneity; host community; parasite–host interactions; urbanization