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 […]
Migratory animals undergo extreme physiological changes to prepare for and sustain energetically costly movements; one potential change is reduced investment in immune defenses. However, because some migrants have evolved to minimize the energetic demands of movement (for example, through the temporary atrophy of non-essential organs such as those involved in […]
Animal behaviour and the ecology and evolution of parasites are inextricably linked. For this reason, animal behaviourists and disease ecologists have been interested in the intersection of their respective fields for decades. Despite this interest, most research at the behaviour-disease interface focuses either on how host behaviour affects parasites or […]
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