In much of my research (but not all) I explore the relationship between modern agricultural practices and the ecology of infectious diseases affecting a range of domestic and agricultural animal populations.
Marek’s disease virus and industrialized poultry farming
Collaborators: Troy Day, Scott Greenhalgh
Today chickens are raised with tens of thousands of genetically similar birds in crowded barns, with a lifespan as short as six weeks. These changes to animal husbandry have been implicated in the continual increase in virulence of Marek’s disease, a viral disease of poultry.
[1] Rozins, C., Day, T., and Greenhalgh, S. (2019 ). [2] Rozins, C. and Day, T. (2017). Evol Appl. [3] Rozins, C. and Day, T. (2016). J. Math. Biol.
Controlling bovine tuberculosis when there is a wildlife reservoir.
Collaborators: Matthew Silk, Mike Boots, Darren P. Croft, Richard J. Delahay, Dave Hodgson, Robbie A. McDonald, Nicola Weber
Bovine tuberculosis, bTB, while rare in most developed nations, continues to be a major animal and human health issue in the UK. Control of bTB in the UK is made difficult due to a wildlife reservoir of European badgers.
[1] Rozins*, C., Silk* et al. (2018). Ecol. Evol. [2] Silk, Matthew J., et al. (2019). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
*joint first author
Collaborators: Mike Boots, Lewis Bartlette, Lena Wilfert, Keith Delaplane, Berry Brosi and Jaap De Roode
The disease consequences of honeybee apiculture intensification.
Honeybee health and the apicultural industry is under threat from a variety of pressures including disease burden caused by parasites and pathogens. We study how modern agricultural intensification and novel agricultural practices impact the emergence and epidemiology of infectious disease in bees.
[1] Rozins*, C., Bartlett*, L. J. et al. (2019). Journal of Applied Ecology.
*joint first author
Perception Kernel and Vector Movements
Collaborators: Janis Antonovics, Michael Hood
- The hexigonal fan (left) can be used to study both density and frequency effects in 2-species plant competition and experiments as well as disease transmission.
- Predictions of spatial disease spread in host-pathogen systems. To model vector transmission, we introduce the concept of a perception kernel.
[1] Rozins, C, Hood E. M., Cho, J. E. Antonovics, A (2019) in revision. [2] Rozins, C. Boots, M., Antonovics, J. (in prep).
