Meredith C. VanAcker
YOU?
Author Swipe
View article: Trash Talking: Anthropogenic Resources Facilitate Raccoon Interactions in Urban Environments
Trash Talking: Anthropogenic Resources Facilitate Raccoon Interactions in Urban Environments Open
Interactions between animals of the same species underpin many ecological processes, from reproduction to pathogen transmission. Habitat modification, such as urbanization, affects an animal's spatial behavior, altering interactions with b…
View article: Expanding National‐Scale Wildlife Disease Surveillance Systems With Research Networks
Expanding National‐Scale Wildlife Disease Surveillance Systems With Research Networks Open
Efficient learning about disease dynamics in free‐ranging wildlife systems can benefit from active surveillance that is standardized across different ecological contexts. For example, active surveillance that targets specific individuals a…
View article: A Novel Nobecovirus in an Epomophorus wahlbergi Bat from Nairobi, Kenya
A Novel Nobecovirus in an Epomophorus wahlbergi Bat from Nairobi, Kenya Open
Most human emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, originating in animal hosts prior to spillover to humans. Prioritizing the surveillance of wildlife that overlaps with humans and human activities can increase the likelihood of detecti…
View article: Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection methods for wild Cervidae
Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection methods for wild Cervidae Open
Wildlife surveillance programs often use serological data to monitor exposure to pathogens. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of a serological assay quantify the true positive and negative rates of the diagnostic assay, respectively. …
View article: A framework for ecologically and socially informed risk reduction before and after outbreaks of wildlife-borne zoonoses
A framework for ecologically and socially informed risk reduction before and after outbreaks of wildlife-borne zoonoses Open
Despite increasing emphasis being placed on the inclusion of upstream ecological and social perspectives for zoonotic disease control, few guidelines exist for practitioners and decision makers to work with communities in identifying suita…
View article: Urban greenspace connectivity drive shifts in host assemblages and tick-borne pathogen infection
Urban greenspace connectivity drive shifts in host assemblages and tick-borne pathogen infection Open
Habitat fragmentation is often highlighted as a driver of tick-borne disease hazard and spillover risk via reduction in biodiversity. However, habitat fragmentation can have divergent impacts on host, vector, and pathogen dynamics dependin…
View article: Cascading effects of mammal host community composition on tick vector occurrence at the urban human–wildlife interface
Cascading effects of mammal host community composition on tick vector occurrence at the urban human–wildlife interface Open
Habitat fragmentation and host community composition are implicated as key drivers of changing tick populations and tick‐borne pathogen dynamics, altering infection risk through coupled socioecological pathways that mediate interactions be…
View article: Resource selection by New York City deer reveals the effective interface between wildlife, zoonotic hazards and humans
Resource selection by New York City deer reveals the effective interface between wildlife, zoonotic hazards and humans Open
Although the role of host movement in shaping infectious disease dynamics is widely acknowledged, methodological separation between animal movement and disease ecology has prevented researchers from leveraging empirical insights from movem…
View article: Issue Information
Issue Information Open
Prospects • Employment opportunities and academic programsCover picture: Each year, vast numbers of photographs are uploaded to online citizen-science biodiversity platforms such as iNaturalist.But within these image libraries, species-lev…
View article: Resource selection by New York City deer reveals the effective interface between wildlife, zoonotic hazards, and humans
Resource selection by New York City deer reveals the effective interface between wildlife, zoonotic hazards, and humans Open
Although the role of host movement in shaping infectious disease dynamics is widely acknowledged, methodological separation between animal movement and disease ecology has prevented researchers from leveraging empirical insights from movem…
View article: The public health implications of gentrification: tick‐borne disease risks for communities of color
The public health implications of gentrification: tick‐borne disease risks for communities of color Open
Gentrification operates as a social driver of health that can increase tick‐borne disease (TBD) risk for communities of color through either population displacement or land‐use change. Research on the emergence of TBDs in urban environment…
View article: Socio‐ecological drivers of multiple zoonotic hazards in highly urbanized cities
Socio‐ecological drivers of multiple zoonotic hazards in highly urbanized cities Open
The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of pathogen spillover from wildlife to human hosts, particularly in densely populated urban centers. Prevention of future zoonotic disease is contingent on i…
View article: Association of the invasive Haemaphysalis longicornis tick with vertebrate hosts, other native tick vectors, and tick-borne pathogens in New York City, USA
Association of the invasive Haemaphysalis longicornis tick with vertebrate hosts, other native tick vectors, and tick-borne pathogens in New York City, USA Open
View article: Impact of Land Use Changes and Habitat Fragmentation on the Eco-epidemiology of Tick-Borne Diseases
Impact of Land Use Changes and Habitat Fragmentation on the Eco-epidemiology of Tick-Borne Diseases Open
The incidence of tick-borne diseases has increased in recent decades and accounts for the majority of vector-borne disease cases in temperate areas of Europe, North America, and Asia. This emergence has been attributed to multiple and inte…
View article: First glimpse into the origin and spread of the Asian longhorned tick, <i>Haemaphysalis longicornis,</i> in the United States
First glimpse into the origin and spread of the Asian longhorned tick, <i>Haemaphysalis longicornis,</i> in the United States Open
Established populations of Asian longhorned ticks (ALT), Haemaphysalis longicornis , were first identified in the United States (US) in 2017 by sequencing the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( cox1 ) ‘barcoding’ locus followed…
View article: Association of the invasive<i>Haemaphysalis longicornis</i>tick with vertebrate hosts, other native tick vectors, and tick-borne pathogens in New York City
Association of the invasive<i>Haemaphysalis longicornis</i>tick with vertebrate hosts, other native tick vectors, and tick-borne pathogens in New York City Open
Haemaphysalis longicornis , the Asian longhorned tick, is an invasive ixodid tick that has rapidly spread across the northeastern and southeastern regions of the United States since first reported in 2017. The emergence of H. longicornis p…
View article: Enhancement of Risk for Lyme Disease by Landscape Connectivity, New York, New York, USA
Enhancement of Risk for Lyme Disease by Landscape Connectivity, New York, New York, USA Open
Most tickborne disease studies in the United States are conducted in low-intensity residential development and forested areas, leaving much unknown about urban infection risks. To understand Lyme disease risk in New York, New York, USA, we…
View article: Distribution, Host-Seeking Phenology, and Host and Habitat Associations of <i>Haemaphysalis longicornis</i> Ticks, Staten Island, New York, USA
Distribution, Host-Seeking Phenology, and Host and Habitat Associations of <i>Haemaphysalis longicornis</i> Ticks, Staten Island, New York, USA Open
Haemaphysalis longicornis, an invasive Ixodid tick, was recently reported in the eastern United States. The emergence of these ticks represents a potential threat for livestock, wildlife, and human health. We describe the distribution, hos…
View article: The Expectations and Challenges of Wildlife Disease Research in the Era of Genomics: Forecasting with a Horizon Scan-like Exercise
The Expectations and Challenges of Wildlife Disease Research in the Era of Genomics: Forecasting with a Horizon Scan-like Exercise Open
The outbreak and transmission of disease-causing pathogens are contributing to the unprecedented rate of biodiversity decline. Recent advances in genomics have coalesced into powerful tools to monitor, detect, and reconstruct the role of p…