Dynamics of parasitic helminth infections: Improved control practices through comparative studies in chickens

project summary

The main objective of this project is to create capacity in Nicaragua to study the dynamics of parasitic infections. Parasitic diseases are common in both man and livestock but current control measures assume to a large extent that all infections should be eliminated. This is clearly not allways possible and for many parasites of veterinary importance it may be wiser to develop a strategy for how to live with the parasite. This requires, however, methods to study the fate of infections over time (whether immunity develops and at which cost from the host and whether present infections limit the establishment of new infections). The present proposal makes use of newly developed molecular tools to address these practical questions. The outputs of the project will be a PhD degree with four peer-reviewed papers and the methods will also be established in Nicaragua at the UNAN-León and MINSA. The activities will involve PhD courses in Denmark, experimental studies in Denmark, establishment of laboratory methods in Nicaragua and field studies in Nicaragua. This will be followed by a stay in Denmark with writing and defence of the thesis. The research results will be communicated to the scientific community as journal articles and conference papers. At the end of the project a course will be organized in Nicaragua on strategies for parasite control.