John Mischler, in the Townsend lab, has been awarded an EPA STAR grant. Here is the title and abstract from his proposal:
Catching the Itch: A Study of Cercarial Dermatitis in Colorado
Trends in disease emergence and transmission are in flux throughout much of the globe. Some diseases are re-emerging while others are crossing over from livestock to humans. Within this new environment of emerging and re-emerging diseases it is prudent to cultivate an understanding of the ecological conditions that provide a favorable environment for disease transmission; biomedical strategies alone will not succeed in holding back this flood of new infections. While control measures such as antibiotics, vaccines, and water purification have provided some level of stability in the past, the rate and scale of global change in agriculture, trade, biodiversity, species invasions, and other complex factors have severely compromised our ability to understand and respond to infectious diseases. A piecemeal approach to disease control and treatment is no longer a viable option; any successful approach to disease control in the 21st century must integrate biomedical and ecological approaches in order to understand and curb the spread of infectious disease.
I propose to study the links between nutrient-driven eutrophication and pesticide loading and an increased risk of several vector-born diseases. I will utilize both field observations as well as experimental work to understand how changes in nutrient cycling and pesticide loading of aquatic ecosystems in Colorado affect the emergence and transmission of cercarial dermatitis.
Cercarial Dermatitis (commonly referred to in the US as ‘swimmer’s itch’) is an intense rash that forms in response to trematode parasites (schistosomes) penetrating the human skin. The schistosome parasite first infects an aquatic snail as an intermediate host to complete one stage of its life cycle. The parasite develops within the snail until it has matured into a form able to infect its terminal host, at which point the parasite is shed into the water column in large numbers. These parasites (called cercariae) swim until they locate a terminal host, at which point they burrow through the skin and into the host’s body.
