The changing face of pathogen discovery and surveillance

Abstract

The pace of pathogen discovery is increasing dramatically. This reflects not only factors that enable the appearance and globalization of new microbial infections but also improvements in methods for ascertainment. New molecular diagnostic platforms; investments in pathogen surveillance in wildlife, domestic animals and humans; and the advent of social media tools that mine the world wide web for clues to outbreaks of infectious disease are proving invaluable in early recognition of threats to public health. Additionally, models of microbial pathogenesis are becoming more complex, providing insights into the mechanisms by which microorganisms can contribute to chronic illnesses like cancer, peptic ulcer disease and mental illness. Here we review the contributions of each of these elements to infectious disease emergence and strategies for addressing the challenges of pathogen surveillance and discovery.

Low frequency of paleoviral infiltration across the avian phylogeny

“…First, it is theoretically possible that birds have been exposed to fewer viral infections than mammals. However, this seems unlikely as, although they are likely to have been examined less intensively than mammals [27], exogenous viruses of various kinds are found in avian species (for example, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Hepadnaviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Poxviridae, Retroviridae). In addition, the most common phylogenetic pattern we noted was that of independent integration, suggesting the presence of diverse exogenous infections.…”

Sensing parasites: Proteomic and advanced bio-detection alternatives

“…They are strongly associated with poverty causing a considerable health and economic impact especially when considering co-introduced and co-invading parasites [1,2]. Moreover, parasitic infections can be found worldwide and can be potentially introduced from endemic to non-endemic areas mainly due to human and animal population movements and climate change, resulting in their emergence and re-emergence [3,4]. Neglected parasitic infections are very prevalent especially among children and immunocompromised hosts -even in developed countries-, causing high morbidity and mortality rates [5,6].…”

Blood transcriptomes reveal novel parasitic zoonoses circulating in Madagascar's lemurs

“…Empirical data from Madagascar show elevated parasite densities in several lemur species and spillover of pathogenic enterobacteria and viruses from domesticated species and humans into wild lemurs [4,6,[8][9][10]. Relatively few studies, however, have focused on pathogen discovery in lemurs and none has implemented modern nextgeneration disease surveillance methods [1,11,12]. Here, we use high-throughput sequencing of total RNA extracted from blood samples (i.e.…”