Study of Ecology and Epidemiological Role of Blood-Sucking True Flies (DIPTERA) in the Spread of Causative Agents of Zoonoses and Parasitoses in the Climatically Changing Slovakia.

The project will focus on the mechanisms of transmission and spread of parasites in natural ecosystems in Slovakia to elucidate the circulation patterns of selected protozoa (Toxoplasma gondii and haemosporidia of the genera Leucocytozoon and Haemoproteus) and helminths (Eufilaria, Eufilariella, Onchocerca, and Anoplocephalidae). By means of molecular biology methods the current geographic distribution of selected parasitic diseases will be investigated in Slovakia and in cooperation with foreign institutions also in a wider geographic context. Biological peculiarities of host-parasite relationships, influencing the circulation in model study sites and the local adaptations of the parasite genetic structure to available hosts and vectors and to external factors. Factors limiting the survival of parasites, their vectors, intermediate hosts, and reservoirs will be identified, and risk areas will be defined predicting the risk of spreading to new areas and infecting humans.