Infection Ecology in Ethiopia
Six scientists from Ethiopia and Tanzania have visited the DPZ from July, 30rd to August, 1st 2014 to finalize a full proposal for a new German-African Cooperation Project on Infectiology. The research consortium aims to get funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project will allow new insight into the ecology of and consequences of tapeworm infection. Tapeworms of the genus Taenia infect a variety of different hosts in the Ethiopian Highlands.
Taeniasis, a neglected tropical disease as classified by WHO, is a well integrated disease in the ecosystem of the Afroalpine Highlands. The parasite, a tapeworm species, has a complex life cycle and researchers involved in the project have already reported effects on the reproduction and survival rate of a local primate species, the geladas (Theropithecus gelada) (Nguyen et al. in Revision). A potential primary host for the tapeworm is the world's most endangered canide, the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), and other carnivores that become infected through preying on infected intermediate hosts. In the primary host, the tapeworm becomes mature and excreted eggs are infectious for humans and animals. The epidemiology of infection and the role of various hosts, including humans, are subjects of the planned research project.
The project is headed by DPZ scientist Dr. Sascha Knauf who together with Drs. Christian Roos (DPZ) and Dennis Tappe (Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine) successfully past the first selection round of the DFG call for German-African Cooperation Projects in January this year. Consortium members of the project met at the DPZ to discuss tasks and objectives, to determine responsibilities and to create a detailed timetable in order to finalize the full proposal. With the completed project application, the scientists hope for a three-year funding by DFG and thus to establish a new chapter in the field of zoonosis research at DPZ.