Bifurcation delay is a phenomenon that occurs when dynamical systems go through a critical transition. Bifurcation delay occurs because the state of the system may continue to follow the path provided by one basin of attraction even after the stability landscape of the system has changed. For emerging infectious diseases, […]
Bivalves process large volumes of water, leading to their accumulation of bacteria, including potential human pathogens (e.g., vibrios). These bacteria are captured at low efficiencies when freely suspended in the water column, but they also attach to marine aggregates, which are captured with near 100% efficiency. For this reason, and […]
The majority of infectious diseases currently emerging in humans originated in mammals. Yet we still know very little about the global patterns of mammal-to-human pathogen transmission. As a first step, researchers at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the University of Georgia have assembled world maps of what’s on record […]
Like earthquakes and tsunamis, much of the destructive potential of infectious diseases stems from the fact that they often strike unexpectedly, leaving little time for preparation. This is a problem for better analytics. In this paper, Barbara Han and John Drake argue that developing integrated warning system for predicting emerging pathogens is timely. Such a system will […]
Several studies suggest the potential for climate change to increase malaria incidence in cooler, marginal transmission environments. However, the effect of increasing temperature in warmer regions where conditions currently support endemic transmission has received less attention. We investigate how increases in temperature from optimal conditions (27 °C to 30 °C and 33 °C) interact […]
Preventing future outbreaks of ebolaviruses in humans and other vulnerable animal populations will require identifying the natural reservoirs of filoviruses. Accumulating indirect evidence points to certain bat species as prime suspects. To guide the search for natural filovirus reservoirs, a team involving Barbara Han (Cary Institute), David Hayman (Massey University) […]
Pertussis, a highly contagious respiratory infection, remains a public health priority despite the availability of vaccines for 70 years. Still a leading cause of mortality in developing countries, pertussis has re-emerged in several developed countries with high vaccination coverage. Resurgence of pertussis in these countries has routinely been attributed to […]
It is now widely known that Ebola survivors may suffer chronic infections and can transmit the virus to sexual partners, but the epidemiologic implications of this pathology have not been well understood. A recent theoretical project led by UGA graduate student John Vinson explores the effects of sexual transmission on […]
We propose ‘the moving target hypothesis’ to describe the aetiology of a contemporary coral disease that differs from that of its historical disease state. Hitting the target with coral disease aetiology is a complex pursuit that requires understanding of host and environment, and may lack a single pathogen solution. White […]
Experimental studies in laboratory settings have demonstrated a critical role of parasite interactions in shaping parasite communities. The sum of these interactions can produce diverse effects on individual hosts as well as influence disease emergence and persistence at the population level. A predictive framework for the effects of parasite interactions […]
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