Research · Disease ecology

Wildlife disease & spillover

Carcasses as meeting points where pathogens can move between wild and domestic animals.

A black-and-tan dingo standing on a red dirt road

Carcasses act like ecological cafés: hotspots where wild and domestic animals
converge. Pathogens can persist in carcasses for months, so these sites may bridge disease
transmission between species.

My PhD in the University of Sydney’s Disease Ecology Lab is defining the wild–domestic animal interface and microbial spillover risk around carrion, with fieldwork in Cape York, Queensland.

Projects

Ongoing

Carcasses at the wild–domestic interface

How scavenger activity around carrion could bridge disease transmission between wild and domestic animals.

Related publications

2025

Frontiers in Veterinary ScienceOpen accessIn the news (3)

The final frontier: using carcasses for one health surveillance at the ecosystem interface

Barton KA, Finnerty PB, Rupasinghe R, González-Crespo C, Mahar JE, Eden J, …, Brookes VJ

Disease surveillance systems largely overlook carcasses. This perspective argues that vertebrate carcasses are a critical, under-used window onto pathogen transmission between wildlife, domestic animals and people – especially as mass mortality events increase and key scavengers such as vultures decline.

Read paper Free full text Wildlife disease & spillover Biosecurity & emerging threats

All research themes