One of the fundamental aims of ecological, epidemiological and evolutionary studies of host–
parasite interactions is to unravel which factors affect parasite virulence. Theory predicts that …

Recent outbreaks of various infectious diseases have highlighted the ever-present need to
understand the drivers of the outbreak and spread of disease. Although much of the …

Evolutionary expectations about the virulence of parasites (ie the parasite-induced mortality
rate of the host) generally describe parasites which grow and are transmitted at the same …

Parasite transmission is a complex, multi-stage process that significantly impacts host-
parasite dynamics. Transmission plays a key role in epidemiology and in virulence …

The main theory of the evolution of virulence relies on a trade-off between virulence and the
rate of transmission. It has however proven difficult to measure the required trade-off. This …

Co-infections are frequent, with consequences for parasite life-history traits expressed at
within-and between-host levels. However, little is known about whether the effect of …

Dispersal fuels the interplay between ecology, evolution and adaptation across spatial and
temporal scales. Dispersal also determines the encounter between natural enemies and can …