Wildlife Disease Ecology Group

The research focus of the Wildlife Disease Ecology Group (GEC) centers on investigating the occurrence of infectious diseases in wild animals in the context of their effects on infected individuals, entire populations, and the epidemiological risks they pose to humans and domestic animals. The group’s goal is to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms that enable pathogens to persist and be transmitted within mammal populations, as well as their role in ecosystems.

The Wildlife Disease Ecology Group conducts research on parasitic, bacterial, and viral diseases of wild animals from ecological and epidemiological perspectives. The group’s leading research topics include:

1. How pathogens affect host health, as well as the condition and dynamics of entire populations,
2. Which environmental, biological, and anthropogenic factors influence the spread of pathogens in the environment,
3. The significance of diseases occurring in wild animals in veterinary and public health contexts (zoonoses and the “One Health” approach),
4. Whether and how pathogens may alter host behaviour:
   • in the context of the behavioural manipulation hypothesis studied in the system of cats – wild rodents – Toxoplasma gondii;
   • in the context of sarcoptic mange in carnivores, when severely hypothermic, emaciated, and weakened individuals approach human settlements in search of food.

Research conducted within the GEC includes both protected species (e.g., wolves, lynx, shrews), invasive alien species (e.g., raccoon dogs), and many native mammal species such as badgers, foxes, voles, and mice. The legal status and management practices of the studied species are also taken into account when interpreting the results obtained.