The Experts below are selected from a list of 297 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Chi Chien Kuo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change harbor vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are understudied, particularly for neglected tropical disease. Moreover, although Socioeconomic impacts can have significant downstream effects on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remains very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks infective of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp., respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasions of the plant Leucaena leucocephala caused by widespread abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization affected abundance of chiggers and ticks in Penghu Island, Taiwan. We determined ectoparasite abundance by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residential) every two months for a year. Based on ectoparasite burdens, invasion sites harbored more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats. Furthermore, hosts maintained higher burdens of both vectors in early winter and burdens of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that sites with invasive plants could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of O. tsutsugamushi in chiggers and Rickettsia in ticks were also consistently not lower in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humidity were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites contained more of the rat Rattus losea, on which chiggers and ticks were more engorged than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), indicating that abundance of the host R. losea instead of microclimate might better determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequences for human health induced particularly by invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more comprehensive approach that integrates socio-economics, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change shelter vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
2019Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Abstract Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are little studied, particularly for neglected tropical disease; meanwhile, although Socioeconomic Change can have significant downstream effect on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remain very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks, respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasion of Leucaena leucocephala plant after extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization in Penghu Islands of Taiwan affected abundance of chiggers and ticks by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residence) every two months for a year. Invasion sites sheltered more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats; moreover, both vectors maintained higher abundance in early winter and populations of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that the invasive sites could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of etiologic agents in chiggers and ticks were also higher in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humility were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites harbored more Rattus losea rat, on which infested chiggers and ticks were more well fed than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), implicating that abundance of superior hosts instead of microclimate, might determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequence for human health mediated particularly through invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more holistic perspective that integrates socioeconomy, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases. Author summary Understanding how environmental factors, such as land use Change, affect risks to vector-borne diseases helps control and prevent human diseases, but ecological preference of vectors of most neglected diseases remain little investigated. In this study, we found that vectors of scrub typhus (chigger mites) and spotted fever (hard ticks), two emerging neglected diseases, were much more abundant in sites invaded by exotic plants than the other major land cover types in a small island of Taiwan; moreover, populations of chigger mite in invasion sites were more stable across seasons, suggesting that plant invasion sites could be a refuge for disease vectors under unfavorable climate. Higher abundance of chigger mites and ticks was related to higher abundance of a superior rodent host instead of a difference in soil micro-climate. More significantly, these invasive plants are facilitated by extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization and rural to urban migration, thus demonstrating an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change, when mediated through a Change in land cover, can have unexpected downstream effect on emerging neglected tropical diseases.
Jerry Mcbeath - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China
Journal of Chinese Political Science, 2008Co-Authors: Jerry McbeathAbstract:This article considers the immediate forces influencing China’s food system and food security. By immediate is meant events of the reform period, from the late 1970s to 2008. It begins by asking the question that has preoccupied specialists since the publication of Lester Brown’s Who Will Feed China? in 1995: How much arable land does China have? Is that land area sufficient to insure grain sufficiency? To insure food security? The article focuses on the human pressures on the food production environment, and then treats the effects of Socioeconomic Change: land, air, and water degradation. The core of the article examines six responses of the state to both perceived and actual environmental stressors: policy restricting arable land conversion, China’s one-child policy, investment in irrigation systems, the South–North Water Diversion Project, large-scale afforestation and reforestation campaigns, and the program to convert marginal agricultural lands to forests and grasslands.
Chen-yu Wei - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change harbor vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are understudied, particularly for neglected tropical disease. Moreover, although Socioeconomic impacts can have significant downstream effects on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remains very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks infective of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp., respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasions of the plant Leucaena leucocephala caused by widespread abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization affected abundance of chiggers and ticks in Penghu Island, Taiwan. We determined ectoparasite abundance by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residential) every two months for a year. Based on ectoparasite burdens, invasion sites harbored more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats. Furthermore, hosts maintained higher burdens of both vectors in early winter and burdens of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that sites with invasive plants could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of O. tsutsugamushi in chiggers and Rickettsia in ticks were also consistently not lower in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humidity were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites contained more of the rat Rattus losea, on which chiggers and ticks were more engorged than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), indicating that abundance of the host R. losea instead of microclimate might better determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequences for human health induced particularly by invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more comprehensive approach that integrates socio-economics, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change shelter vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
2019Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Abstract Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are little studied, particularly for neglected tropical disease; meanwhile, although Socioeconomic Change can have significant downstream effect on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remain very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks, respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasion of Leucaena leucocephala plant after extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization in Penghu Islands of Taiwan affected abundance of chiggers and ticks by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residence) every two months for a year. Invasion sites sheltered more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats; moreover, both vectors maintained higher abundance in early winter and populations of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that the invasive sites could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of etiologic agents in chiggers and ticks were also higher in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humility were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites harbored more Rattus losea rat, on which infested chiggers and ticks were more well fed than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), implicating that abundance of superior hosts instead of microclimate, might determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequence for human health mediated particularly through invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more holistic perspective that integrates socioeconomy, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases. Author summary Understanding how environmental factors, such as land use Change, affect risks to vector-borne diseases helps control and prevent human diseases, but ecological preference of vectors of most neglected diseases remain little investigated. In this study, we found that vectors of scrub typhus (chigger mites) and spotted fever (hard ticks), two emerging neglected diseases, were much more abundant in sites invaded by exotic plants than the other major land cover types in a small island of Taiwan; moreover, populations of chigger mite in invasion sites were more stable across seasons, suggesting that plant invasion sites could be a refuge for disease vectors under unfavorable climate. Higher abundance of chigger mites and ticks was related to higher abundance of a superior rodent host instead of a difference in soil micro-climate. More significantly, these invasive plants are facilitated by extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization and rural to urban migration, thus demonstrating an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change, when mediated through a Change in land cover, can have unexpected downstream effect on emerging neglected tropical diseases.
Jen-kai Wang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change harbor vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are understudied, particularly for neglected tropical disease. Moreover, although Socioeconomic impacts can have significant downstream effects on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remains very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks infective of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp., respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasions of the plant Leucaena leucocephala caused by widespread abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization affected abundance of chiggers and ticks in Penghu Island, Taiwan. We determined ectoparasite abundance by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residential) every two months for a year. Based on ectoparasite burdens, invasion sites harbored more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats. Furthermore, hosts maintained higher burdens of both vectors in early winter and burdens of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that sites with invasive plants could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of O. tsutsugamushi in chiggers and Rickettsia in ticks were also consistently not lower in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humidity were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites contained more of the rat Rattus losea, on which chiggers and ticks were more engorged than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), indicating that abundance of the host R. losea instead of microclimate might better determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequences for human health induced particularly by invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more comprehensive approach that integrates socio-economics, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change shelter vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
2019Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Abstract Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are little studied, particularly for neglected tropical disease; meanwhile, although Socioeconomic Change can have significant downstream effect on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remain very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks, respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasion of Leucaena leucocephala plant after extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization in Penghu Islands of Taiwan affected abundance of chiggers and ticks by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residence) every two months for a year. Invasion sites sheltered more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats; moreover, both vectors maintained higher abundance in early winter and populations of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that the invasive sites could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of etiologic agents in chiggers and ticks were also higher in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humility were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites harbored more Rattus losea rat, on which infested chiggers and ticks were more well fed than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), implicating that abundance of superior hosts instead of microclimate, might determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequence for human health mediated particularly through invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more holistic perspective that integrates socioeconomy, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases. Author summary Understanding how environmental factors, such as land use Change, affect risks to vector-borne diseases helps control and prevent human diseases, but ecological preference of vectors of most neglected diseases remain little investigated. In this study, we found that vectors of scrub typhus (chigger mites) and spotted fever (hard ticks), two emerging neglected diseases, were much more abundant in sites invaded by exotic plants than the other major land cover types in a small island of Taiwan; moreover, populations of chigger mite in invasion sites were more stable across seasons, suggesting that plant invasion sites could be a refuge for disease vectors under unfavorable climate. Higher abundance of chigger mites and ticks was related to higher abundance of a superior rodent host instead of a difference in soil micro-climate. More significantly, these invasive plants are facilitated by extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization and rural to urban migration, thus demonstrating an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change, when mediated through a Change in land cover, can have unexpected downstream effect on emerging neglected tropical diseases.
Han-chun Shih - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change harbor vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are understudied, particularly for neglected tropical disease. Moreover, although Socioeconomic impacts can have significant downstream effects on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remains very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks infective of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp., respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasions of the plant Leucaena leucocephala caused by widespread abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization affected abundance of chiggers and ticks in Penghu Island, Taiwan. We determined ectoparasite abundance by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residential) every two months for a year. Based on ectoparasite burdens, invasion sites harbored more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats. Furthermore, hosts maintained higher burdens of both vectors in early winter and burdens of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that sites with invasive plants could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of O. tsutsugamushi in chiggers and Rickettsia in ticks were also consistently not lower in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humidity were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites contained more of the rat Rattus losea, on which chiggers and ticks were more engorged than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), indicating that abundance of the host R. losea instead of microclimate might better determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequences for human health induced particularly by invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more comprehensive approach that integrates socio-economics, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases.
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Invasive plants facilitated by Socioeconomic Change shelter vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever
2019Co-Authors: Chen-yu Wei, Jen-kai Wang, Han-chun Shih, Hsi-chieh Wang, Chi Chien KuoAbstract:Abstract Background Ecological determinants of most emerging vector-borne diseases are little studied, particularly for neglected tropical disease; meanwhile, although Socioeconomic Change can have significant downstream effect on human risks to vector-borne diseases via a Change in land cover, particularly facilitating the invasion of exotic plants, related studies remain very scarce. Scrub typhus and spotted fever are neglected diseases emerging around the globe and are transmitted by chigger mites and ticks, respectively, with small mammals as the primary hosts of both vectors. Methodology/Principal findings We investigated how invasion of Leucaena leucocephala plant after extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization in Penghu Islands of Taiwan affected abundance of chiggers and ticks by trapping small mammals in three types of habitats (invasion site, agricultural field, human residence) every two months for a year. Invasion sites sheltered more chiggers and ticks than the other two habitats; moreover, both vectors maintained higher abundance in early winter and populations of chiggers were more stable across seasons in invasion sites, suggesting that the invasive sites could be a temporary refuge for both vectors and might help mitigate the negative influence of unfavorable climate. Infective rates of etiologic agents in chiggers and ticks were also higher in invasion sites. Top soil temperature and relative humility were similar across the three habitats, but invasion sites harbored more Rattus losea rat, on which infested chiggers and ticks were more well fed than those from the most commonly trapped species (Suncus murinus shrew), implicating that abundance of superior hosts instead of microclimate, might determine the abundance of both vectors. Conclusions/Significance This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change can have unexpected consequence for human health mediated particularly through invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more holistic perspective that integrates socioeconomy, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases. Author summary Understanding how environmental factors, such as land use Change, affect risks to vector-borne diseases helps control and prevent human diseases, but ecological preference of vectors of most neglected diseases remain little investigated. In this study, we found that vectors of scrub typhus (chigger mites) and spotted fever (hard ticks), two emerging neglected diseases, were much more abundant in sites invaded by exotic plants than the other major land cover types in a small island of Taiwan; moreover, populations of chigger mite in invasion sites were more stable across seasons, suggesting that plant invasion sites could be a refuge for disease vectors under unfavorable climate. Higher abundance of chigger mites and ticks was related to higher abundance of a superior rodent host instead of a difference in soil micro-climate. More significantly, these invasive plants are facilitated by extensive abandonment of farmlands driven by industrialization and rural to urban migration, thus demonstrating an important but largely neglected issue that Socioeconomic Change, when mediated through a Change in land cover, can have unexpected downstream effect on emerging neglected tropical diseases.
