Senior Lecturer in Wild Animal Health
Curriculum Vitae:
- 2008–present: Senior Lecturer in Wild Animal Health, Institute of Zoology.
- 1996-present: Co-Director Masters Courses in Wild Animal Health and Wild Animal Biology.
- 1998-2002: Senior Veterinary Officer, Institute of Zoology.
- 1989-1998: Veterinary Officer, Institute of Zoology.
- 1987-1989: Veterinary Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Professional Recognition:
- 2011 FHEA – Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- 2009 European Recognised Specialist in Zoological Medicine (Wildlife Population Health)
- 2009 DipECZM (Wildlife Population Health)
Research Interests:
Disease outbreaks as a consequence of the translocation of free-living wild animals are a threat to biodiversity and vast numbers of these wild animal movments occur annually for reasons of trade, rehabilitation, hunting and conservation. My interest is in developing methods to assess the risks from disease with less uncertainty so that translocations can be carried out more effectively. Difficulties in doing so stem from our lack of understanding of the number, pathogenicity, identity and distribution of parasites of wild animals. One driver of disease outbreaks is non-native parasite incursion and there is a need for better prediction of how and when these parasites will impact on wild animal populations. Our evolving methods are tested on current translocation projects for conservation purposes in a collaboration with Natural England - see the DRAHS Project .
Surveillance of disease in threatened free-living wild animal populations, including translocated populations, can be difficult due to the secretive behaviour of many species and because dead and dying animals are removed by scavengers, and yet the results from disease surveillance are important to improve intervention techniques such as translocation. I am exploring how the limitations of our detection methods for diseased and dead free-living wild animals affect our understanding of the threat of disease to translocated and declining free-living populations.
Editorial Positions and Professional Affiliations
- from 2015 Review Editor: Ecohealth
- from 2012 Associate Editor: International Journal of Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
- from 2012 Associate Editor: European Journal Wildlife Research
- 1999 - 2002 President, World Association of Wildlife Veterinarians
Selected Publications:
Dalziel AE, Sainsbury AW, McInnes K, Jakob-Hoff R, Ewen JG 2017. A comparison of disease risk analysis tools for conservation translocations. Ecohealth 14: S30-S41
Vaughan-Higgins RJ, Masters N, Sainsbury AW 2017. Biosecurity for translocations: cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus), Fisher’s estuarine moth (Gortyna borelii lunata), short-haired bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus) and pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) translocations as case studies. Ecohealth 14: S84-S91
Hartley M, Sainsbury AW 2017. Approaches to disease risk analysis in wildlife translocations for conservation purposes. Ecohealth 14: S16-S29
Rideout B, Sainsbury AW, Hudson PJ 2017. Which Parasites Should We Be Most Concerned About in Wildlife Translocations? Ecohealth 14: S42-S46
Peniche G, Bennett DJ, Olson PD, Wong L, Sainsbury AW, and Durrant C 2017 Protecting free-living dormice: molecular identification of cestode parasites in captive dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) destined for reintroduction. Ecohealth 14: S106-S116
Brown MJF, Sainsbury AW, Vaughan-Higgins RJ, Measures GH, Jones CM, Gammans N 2017. Bringing back a healthy buzz? Invertebrate parasites and reintroductions: a case study in bumblebees. Ecohealth 14: S74-S83
Bobadilla Suarez, M, Ewen, JG, Groombridge JJ, Beckmann K, Shotton J, Masters N, Hopkins T, Sainsbury AW 2017. Using Qualitative Disease Risk Analysis for Herpetofauna Conservation Translocations Transgressing Ecological and Geographical Barriers. Ecohealth 14: S47-S60
Sainsbury AW, Yu-Mei R, Ågren E, McGill IS, Molenaar F, Peniche G, Vaughan-Higgins RJ, Foster J 2016. Disease risk analysis and post-release health surveillance for a reintroduction programme: the pool frog Pelophylax lessonae. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases doi:10.1111/tbed.12545.
Keith T. Ballingall, Angeline McIntyre, Zhenzhen Lin, Naomi Timmerman, Eric Matthysen, Peter W. Lurz, Lynsey Melville, Amy Wallace, Anna L. Meredith, Claudia Romeo, Lucas Wauters, Anthony W. Sainsbury, and Colin J. McInnes 2016 Limited diversity associated with duplicated class II MHC-DRB genes in the red squirrel population in the United Kingdom compared with continental Europe. Conservation Genetics DOI 10.1007/s10592-016-0852-3
Fountain K, Jeffs C, Croft S, Gregson J, Lister J, Evans A, Carter I, Chang YM, Sainsbury AW 2016. The Influence of Risk Factors Associated with Captive Rearing on Post-Release Survival in Translocated Cirl Buntings (Emberiza cirlus) in the UK. Oryx doi:10.1017/S0030605315001313
Hopkins TH, Peniche G, Murphy S, Carter I, Shorrock G, Blunn G, Goodship AE and Sainsbury AW 2015. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) confirms shooting of a hen harrier (Circus cyaneus). Veterinary Record Case Reports 3:e000241. doi:10.1136/vetreccr-2015-000241
McInnes CJ, Coulter L, Dagleish MP, Deane D, Gilray J, Percival A, Willoughby K, Scantlebury M, Marks M, Graham D, Everest DJ, McGoldrick M, Rochford J, McKay F, Sainsbury AW 2012. The emergence of squirrelpox in Ireland. Animal Conservation doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00570.x
Sainsbury AW, Vaughan-Higgins RJ. 2012. Analyzing disease risks associated with translocations. Conservation Biology 26: 442-452.
Peniche G, Vaughan-Higgins RJ, Carter I, Pocknell A, Simpson D and Sainsbury AW 2011. Long-term health effects of harness-mounted radio-transmitters in red kites (Milvus milvus) in England. Veterinary Record 169: 311 :doi:10.1136/vr.d4600
McGill I, Feltrer Y, Jeffs C, Sayers G, Marshall RM, Peirce MA, Stidworthy MP, Pocknell AM, Sainsbury AW 2010. Isosporoid coccidiosis in translocated cirl buntings (Emberiza cirlus). Veterinary Record 167: 656-660.
Bruemmer CM, Rushton SP, Gurnell J, Lurz PWW, McInnes CJ, Nettleton P, Sainsbury AW, Duff JP, Gilray J 2010. Epidemiology of squirrel poxvirus in grey squirrels in the UK. Epidemiology and Infection 138:941-950.
Carroll, B., Russell, P., Gurnell, J., Nettleton, P. and Sainsbury, A.W. 2009 Epidemics of squirrelpox virus disease in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris): temporal and serological findings. Epidemiology and Infection 137: 257-265.
Pain, D.J., Carter, I., Sainsbury, A.W., Shore, R.F., Eden, P., Taggart, M.A., Konstantinos, S., Walker, L.A., Meharg, A.A. and Raab, A. 2007 Lead contamination and associated disease in captive and reintroduced red kites Milvus milvus in England. Science of the Total Environment 376: 116-127.
Gurnell.J., Rushton, S.P., Lurz, P.W.W., Sainsbury, A.W., Nettleton, P., Shirley, M.D.F., Bruemmer, C. and Geddes, N. 2006 Squirrel poxvirus: landscape scale strategies for managing disease threat. Biological Conservation 131: 287-295.
Gurnell, J., Rushton, S.P., Lurz, P.W.W., Sainsbury, A.W., Nettleton, P., Shirley, M.D.F., Bruemmer, C. and Geddes, N. 2006 Squirrel poxvirus; an example of pathogen-mediated competition and management of disease threat. Biological Conservation 131: 287-295.
McInnes, C.J., Wood, A.R., Thomas, K., Sainsbury, A.W., Gurnell, J., Dein, F.J. and Nettleton, P.F. 2006 Genomic characterization of a novel poxvirus contributing to the decline of the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in the UK. Journal of General VirologyDOI 10.1099/vir.0.81966-0.
Rushton, S.P., Lurz, P.W.W., Gurnell, J., Nettleton, P., Bruemmer, C., Shirley, M.D.F. and Sainsbury, A.W. 2006 Disease threats posed by alien species: the role of a poxvirus in the decline of the native red squirrel in Britain. Epidemiology and Infection 134(3): 521-533.
Thomas, K., Tompkins, D.M., Sainsbury, A.W., Wood, A.R., Dalziel, R., Nettleton, P.F. and McInnes, C.J. 2003 A novel poxvirus lethal to red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris). Journal of General Virology 84: 3337-3341.
Tompkins, D.M., Sainsbury, A.W., Nettleton, P., Buxton, D. and Gurnell, J. 2002 Parapoxvirus causes a deleterious disease in red squirrels associated with UK population declines. Proceedings of the Royal Society , London Series B 269: 529-533.
Sainsbury, A.W., Nettleton, P., Gilray, J. and Gurnell, J. 2000 Grey squirrels have high seroprevalence to a parapoxvirus associated with deaths in red squirrels. Animal Conservation 3: 229-233.
