Despite increasing control measures, numerous parasitic and infectious diseases are emerging, re-emerging or causing recurrent outbreaks particularly in Asia and the Pacific region, a hot spot of both infectious disease emergence and biodiversity at risk. We investigate how biodiversity affects the distribution of infectious diseases and their outbreaks in this region, taking into account socio-economics (population size, GDP, public health expenditure), geography (latitude and nation size), climate (precipitation, temperature) and biodiversity (bird and mammal species richness, forest cover, mammal and bird species at threat). We show, among countries, that the overall richness of infectious diseases is positively correlated with the richness of birds and mammals, but the number of zoonotic disease outbreaks is positively correlated with the number of threatened mammal and bird species and the number of vector-borne disease outbreaks is negatively correlated with forest cover. These results suggest that, among countries, biodiversity is a source of pathogens, but also that the loss of biodiversity or its regulation, as measured by forest cover or threatened species, seems to be associated with an increase in zoonotic and vector-borne disease outbreaks.

Examining species boundaries using data from multiple independent sources is an appropriate and robust method to identify genetically isolated evolutionary units. We used 5 data sets-cytochrome b (Cytb), cytochrome c oxidase (COI), amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), karyotypes, and morphology-to estimate phylogenetic relationships and species limits within woolly bats, genus Kerivoula, from Southeast Asia. We genetically analyzed 54 specimens of Kerivoula from Malaysia, assigned to 6 of the 10 species currently reported from the country. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear AFLPs (33 specimens) and mitochondrial DNA sequences from Cytb (51 specimens) and COI (48 specimens) resulted in similar statistically supported species-level clades with minimal change in branching order. Using comparisons of cranial and dental morphology and original species descriptions, we assigned the resulting phylogenetic clades to K. hardwickii, K. intermedia, K. lenis, K. minuta, K. papillosa, K pellucida, and 1 unidentified species. Karyotypes further documented variability among the 6 clades. Five different karyotypes were identified, with 2 species having indistinguishable karyotypes. We compared our COI gene sequence data to 110 specimens of Kerivoula from Southeast Asia made available by researchers of the Barcode of Life Database. Our Cytb and AFLP species identifications were congruent with those in the COI database. Intraspecific geographic variation of about 5-7% sequence divergence was observed in Cytb and COI genes within both K. hardwickii and K. minuta. Relaxed molecular clock analyses indicated a late Oligocene to early Miocene origin of the Kerivoulinae with intraspecific diversification events coinciding with the late Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs in at least 6 species. Specimens from Sabah (northeastern Borneo) showed relatively high genetic divergence compared to those between Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak (southwestern Borneo), indicating Pleistocene or Pliocene refugia in Borneo. We conclude that at least 1 distinct lineage of Kerivoula is yet to be described from Borneo and that the intraspecific geographic variation in some species agrees with previous studies on the diversification of flora and fauna in Borneo.

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Background A study was undertaken to determine gastrointestinal (GI) parasites commonly found in Malaysia's non‐human primates (NHP) living in three different types of populations (wild, urban, and captive) and the basis of major GI parasites of zoonotic importance. Methods A total of 308 samples was collected and microscopically screened from the NHP in the wild (n = 163), urban (n = 76), and captive (n = 69) populations. The samples were taken from 12 species of local NHPs. Results At least, 44 species of GI parasites comprising of protozoans (seven species), nematodes (26 species), cestodes (five species), trematodes (five species), and pentastomida (one species) were detected. There were no significant differences for the overall prevalence and no great differences in GI parasite species among the wild, urban, and captive NHP populations. Conclusion The most common GI parasite was Ascaris spp. (49.7%), followed by Oesophagostomum spp. (26.9%), and 31 species discovered in this study are of known public health importance.

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