MOHIP Webinar #23: Tick-born Infections: One Health Implications in the Mekong Region (Feb 27, 2026)

Dr Matthew Robinson is Head of Molecular Bacteriology at the Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust Research Unit (LOMWRU) in Vientiane, Lao PDR, and a University Research Lecturer at the University of Oxford.
Dr Robinson obtained a BSc in Marine and Freshwater Biology from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, followed by an MSc in Veterinary Parasitology from the University of Liverpool/Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He completed his PhD in Clinical Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, where his research focused on pathogen migration within experimentally infected fleas and ticks. He subsequently held postdoctoral research positions at the Universities of Bristol and Exeter, the latter focusing on two-component sensory systems in Burkholderia cenocepacia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, before joining LOMWRU in 2016. His research interests centre around One Health, with a focus on zoonotic pathogens in South and Southeast Asia.

Globally, vector-borne pathogens of human significance cause a predicted 17% of infectious diseases, of which, approximately 23% are attributed to ticks. But ticks not only impact human health. The economic burden of tick-borne diseases in the veterinary field is estimated to reach USD 14–19 billion each year in developing countries. The Mekong region is no exception, stretching through a variety of habitats suitable for important tick species, yet little is known of the true impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Numerous studies across the six-Mekong subregion countries have reported various tick-borne pathogens, including bacteria such as rickettsias, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Borrelia, protozoans such as Babesia, and viral pathogens including tick-borne encephalitis viruses. We will take a closer look at some of these and other pathogens seen within the Mekong region, discuss their impact on both humans and animals, and highlight their importance on the wider One Health context.