Parasites at the Wildlife-Domestic Animal Interface

The contour of the wildlife/livestock/humans interface can vary greatly, which is evidence of its great extent. Most animal diseases, including those caused by parasites, are multi-host diseases, which can differ by the complexity of the hosts’ spectrums, as well as by their life cycles. Free ranging as well as domestic animals accompany humans at every location on the Earth, creating a plethora of opportunities for the exchange of pathogens. Wherever this interface occurs, it should be regarded as a bi-directional pathway for parasite transmission in either direction. Disease transmission at the interface between animals and humans can be understood to be extremely dynamic, reflecting both local and global ecological change in ways both subtle and dramatic. At the same time, changes in our relationships with wildlife and quickly developing knowledge about those relationships contribute to the rapid growth of this field of research.

The ambition of this Research Topic is to bring together authors from various areas of research relating to the wildlife-domestic animal interface, and to gather current data documenting various aspects of parasitological research at this interface to reflecting emerging as well as neglected topics. The Research Topic is open to any contributor; however, the following research areas are given as examples of themes to be welcomed: vector- and water-borne protists of wild and domestic carnivores, cardio-pulmonary nematodes, piroplasmoses of ruminants, and Fasciola hepatica and other platyhelminthes of carnivores and herbivores.