The measurement of host specificity goes well beyond counting how many host species can
successfully be used by a parasite. In particular, specificity can be assessed with respect to …

Identifying drivers of infectious disease patterns and impacts at the broadest scales of
organisation is one of the most crucial challenges for modern science, yet answers to many …

Parasites have evolved independently in numerous animal lineages, and they now make up
a considerable proportion of the biodiversity of life. Not only do they impact humans and …

Fleas are one of the most interesting and fascinating taxa of ectoparasites. All species in this
relatively small order are obligatory haematophagous (blood-feeding) parasites of higher …

Many studies have identified various host behavioural and ecological traits that are
associated with parasite infection, including host gregariousness. By use of meta-analyses …

Parasites with low host specificity (eg infecting a large diversity of host species) are of
special interest in disease ecology, as they are likely more capable of circumventing …

Siphonaptera (fleas) is a highly specialized order of holometabolous insects comprising∼
2500 species placed in 16 families. Despite a long history of extensive work on flea …

Epidemiological studies worldwide have reported a high prevalence and a great diversity of
Bartonella species, both in rodents and their flea parasites. The interaction among …

Ecological, evolutionary and molecular models of interactions between plant hosts and
microbial pathogens are largely based around a concept of tightly coupled interactions …

Host specificity gauges the degree to which a parasite occurs in association with a single
host species. The measure is indicative of properties of the host and parasite, as well as …