World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
80
Citations
18751
World Ranking
1183
National Ranking
532

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

Thomas E. Besser is affiliated with Washington State University in the United States. Their research primarily spans across Immunology and Microbiology, Medicine, and Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Within these broad fields, their work further specializes in Microbiology, Epidemiology, Agronomy and Crop Science, Infectious Diseases, and Immunology.

The scientist's research topics focus extensively on microbial infections and disease research, animal disease management and epidemiology, Mycobacterium research and diagnosis, viral infections and vectors, aquaculture disease management and microbiota, Escherichia coli research studies, and pneumonia and respiratory infections.

Thomas E. Besser has published in multiple scientific venues, with frequent contributions to:

  • Ecology and Evolution
  • Veterinary Microbiology
  • Journal of Clinical Microbiology
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Some recent publications authored or co-authored by Thomas E. Besser include:

  • Natural history of a bighorn sheep pneumonia epizootic: Source of infection, course of disease, and pathogen clearance (2021, Ecology and Evolution)
  • Removal of chronic Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae carrier ewes eliminates pneumonia in a bighorn sheep population (2020, Ecology and Evolution)
  • Experimental infection of specific-pathogen-free domestic lambs with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae causes asymptomatic colonization of the upper airways that is resistant to antibiotic treatment (2022, Veterinary Microbiology)
  • Previously Unrecognized Exposure of Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) to Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in the California Mojave Desert (2021, Journal of Wildlife Diseases)
  • Repeated Oral Vaccination of Cattle with Shiga Toxin-Negative Escherichia coli O157:H7 Reduces Carriage of Wild-Type E. coli O157:H7 after Challenge (2020, Applied and Environmental Microbiology)

The scientist frequently collaborates with several co-authors, including:

  • E. Frances Cassirer
  • Kezia R. Manlove
  • Daniel P. Walsh
  • Jonathan A. Jenks
  • Chadwick P. Lehman

Throughout their career, Thomas E. Besser has been recognized as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 2011.

Best Publications

  • Lymphoid Follicle-Dense Mucosa at the Terminal Rectum Is the Principal Site of Colonization of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the Bovine Host

    Stuart W. Naylor;J. Christopher Low;Thomas E. Besser;Arvind Mahajan

  • The prevalence of Escherichia coli O157.H7 in dairy and beef cattle in Washington State.

    D. D. Hancock;T. E. Besser;M. L. Kinsel;P. I. Tarr

  • Iha: a novel Escherichia coli O157:H7 adherence-conferring molecule encoded on a recently acquired chromosomal Island of conserved structure

    Phillip I. Tarr;Phillip I. Tarr;Sima S. Bilge;James C. Vary;Srdjan Jelacic

  • A longitudinal study of Escherichia coli O157 in fourteen cattle herds

    D. D. Hancock;T. E. Besser;D. H. Rice;D. E. Herriott

  • Multiple sources of Escherichia coli O157 in feedlots and dairy farms in the Northwestern USA

    Dale D Hancock;Thomas E Besser;Daniel H Rice;Eric D Ebel

  • Management and production factors influencing immunoglobulin G1 concentration in colostrum from Holstein cows.

    Lori C. Pritchett;Thomas E. Besser;Dale D. Hancock

  • Preclinical Diagnosis of Scrapie by Immunohistochemistry of Third Eyelid Lymphoid Tissue

    K. I. O'Rourke;T. V. Baszler;T. E. Besser;J. M. Miller

  • Evaluation of 3 Assays for Failure of Passive Transfer in Calves

    Jeff W. Tyler;Dale D. Hancock;Steven M. Parish;Douglas E. Rea

  • Comparison of three methods of feeding colostrum to dairy calves

    T E Besser;L Pritchett

  • The control of VTEC in the animal reservoir

    Dale Hancock;Tom Besser;Jeff Lejeune;Margaret Davis

  • Cattle water troughs as reservoirs of Escherichia coli O157.

    Jeffrey T. LeJeune;Thomas E. Besser;Dale D. Hancock

  • Ecology of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from various sites on dairy farms

    J.R. Roberson;L.K. Fox;D.D. Hancock

  • Duration of Detection of Fecal Excretion of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in Cattle

    Thomas E. Besser;Dale D. Hancock;Lori C. Pritchett;Ella M. McRae

  • Role of calf-adapted Escherichia coli in maintenance of antimicrobial drug resistance in dairy calves.

    Artashes R. Khachatryan;Dale D. Hancock;Thomas E. Besser;Douglas R. Call

  • Antimicrobial drug use in veterinary medicine.

    Paul S. Morley;Michael D. Apley;Thomas E. Besser;Derek P. Burney

  • The Importance of Colostrum to the Health of the Neonatal Calf

    Thomas E. Besser

  • PrP genotypes of captive and free-ranging Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with chronic wasting disease.

    K. I. O’Rourke;T. E. Besser;M. W. Miller;T. F. Cline

  • Longitudinal Study of Fecal Shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Feedlot Cattle: Predominance and Persistence of Specific Clonal Types despite Massive Cattle Population Turnover

    J. T. LeJeune;T. E. Besser;D. H. Rice;J. L. Berg

  • Polymorphisms in the prion precursor functional gene but not the pseudogene are associated with susceptibility to chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer.

    Katherine I. O'Rourke;Katherine I. O'Rourke;Terry R. Spraker;Linda K. Hamburg;Thomas E. Besser

  • Epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157 in Feedlot Cattle.

    Dale D. Hancock;Daniel H. Rice;Lee Ann Thomas;David A. Dargatz

  • Rectoanal Junction Colonization of Feedlot Cattle by Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Its Association with Supershedders and Excretion Dynamics

    Rowland N. Cobbold;Dale D. Hancock;Daniel H. Rice;Janice Berg

  • blaCMY-2-Positive IncA/C Plasmids from Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica Are a Distinct Component of a Larger Lineage of Plasmids

    Douglas R. Call;Randall S. Singer;Da Meng;Shira L. Broschat

  • Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection of calves: infectious dose and direct contact transmission.

    T. E. Besser;B. L. Richards;D. H. Rice;D. D. Hancock

Frequent Co-Authors

Dale D. Hancock
Dale D. Hancock Washington State University
Douglas R. Call
Douglas R. Call Washington State University
Daniel H. Rice
Daniel H. Rice Washington State University
Phillip I. Tarr
Phillip I. Tarr Washington University in St. Louis
Nigel P. French
Nigel P. French Massey University
Donald P. Knowles
Donald P. Knowles Washington State University
Paul C. Cross
Paul C. Cross United States Geological Survey
William M. Sischo
William M. Sischo Washington State University
Jonathan A. Jenks
Jonathan A. Jenks South Dakota State University
Peter J. Hudson
Peter J. Hudson Pennsylvania State University

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