Jane Wilson-Howarth’s first travel health experience was longer ago than she cares to admit: during a six-month overland expedition to Nepal she collected invertebrates and bat blood, caught histoplasmosis and returned with a pet Ascaris. The trip showed her the importance of communicating accurate health information. She has degrees in zoology, parasitology and medicine and post graduate diplomas in paediatrics and reproductive health. Special interests include insect vectors, animal reservoirs of human disease and cave biology.

She served as a partner in general practice in East Anglia for 15 years and was medical director of travel clinics in Cambridge and Ipswich for 11 years. She has worked on mosquito ecology, leprosy screening, schistosomiasis, water supply and sanitation programmes, safe motherhood and child survival projects as well as clinical mentoring and monitoring of clinical standards in Nepal, Madagascar, Peru, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. She also helped provide clinical services for Syrian refugees in Greece.

She has written nine books, three of which are travel health guides including her comprehensive guide first launched as “Bugs Bites & Bowels” but now in its 6th edition has the title “Staying Healthy When You Travel”.

Wanderlust magazine published more than 200 travel health editorials, and she has written chapters in medical text books plus assorted articles for newspapers and journals and on-line magazines. Simon Calder, travel editor of the Independent newspaper identified Jane as one of his travel authorities.