Total budget: 35.056.000 HUF

Project manager: Dr. Attila Sándor

Duration:

from 1st December 2019. to 30th November 2023.

 

Summary:

The planned research will explore bats and their parasites, targeting the interactions between hosts, their external parasites and pathogens. External parasites of bats are important not only as blood feeders of their hosts, but also as a pathogen dispersers (vectors), thus promoting their spread. The purpose of our research is to determine precisely the importance of certain external parasites in the spread of various pathogens, and the evolutionary strategies used by these pathogens to influence their owners in order to disperse as much as possible. In this way, we want to show experimentally, what kind of transmission strategies are used by important (and even dangerous to humans) pathogens such as Bartonella bacteria, malaria and tripanosomes, and how they can influence their owners during their dispersion. Our results will contribute to a better understanding of general transmission strategies and to clarify specific features of some zoonothic pathogens, improving the chances of better prevention. Our results enable both theoretical (general epidemiological, evolutionary biology) and practical (bats protection and pathogens control) application in the future.