Publications
115 results found
Osama T, Brindley D, Car J, et al., 2018, Teaching the relationship between health and climate change: a systematic scoping review protocol, BMJ Open, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2044-6055
Introduction The observed and projected impacts of climate change on human health are significant. While climate change has gathered global momentum and is taught frequently, the extent to which the relationships between climate change and health are taught remain uncertain. Education provides an opportunity to create public engagement on these issues, but the extent to which historical implementation of climate health education could be leveraged is not well understood. To address this gap, we propose to conduct a scoping review of all forms of teaching that have been used to illustrate the health effects of climate change between 2005-2017, coinciding with a turning point in the public health and climate change agendas following the 2005 Group of 7/8 (G7/8) Summit. Methods and analysis Using Arksey/O’Malley’s and Levac's methodological framework, MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Education Resource Information Centre (ERIC), Web of Science, Global Health, Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC), Georef, Ebsco and PROSPERO will be systematically searched. Predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria will be applied by two independent reviewers to determine study eligibility. Studies published in English and after 2005 only will be examined. Following selection of studies, data will be extracted and analysed. Ethics and dissemination No ethical approval is required as exclusively secondary data will be used.Our findings will be communicated to the European Institute of Innovation & Technology Health-Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT-KICs) to assist in the development of a FutureLearn Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the health effects of climate change.
Fisher M, Murray K, 2018, Recent Asian origin of chytrid fungi causing global amphibian declines, Science, Vol: 360, Pages: 621-627, ISSN: 0036-8075
Globalized infectious diseases are causing species declines worldwide, but their source often remains elusive. We used whole-genome sequencing to solve the spatiotemporal origins of the most devastating panzootic to date, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a proximate driver of global amphibian declines. We traced the source of B. dendrobatidis to the Korean peninsula, where one lineage, BdASIA-1, exhibits the genetic hallmarks of an ancestral population that seeded the panzootic. We date the emergence of this pathogen to the early 20th century, coinciding with the global expansion of commercial trade in amphibians, and we show that intercontinental transmission is ongoing. Our findings point to East Asia as a geographic hotspot for B. dendrobatidis biodiversity and the original source of these lineages that now parasitize amphibians worldwide.
More S, Angel Miranda M, Bicout D, et al., 2018, Risk of survival, establishment and spread of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) in the EU, EFSA Journal, Vol: 16, ISSN: 1831-4732
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is an emerging fungal pathogen of salamanders. Despite limited surveillance, Bsal was detected in kept salamanders populations in Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and in wild populations in some regions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. According to niche modelling, at least part of the distribution range of every salamander species in Europe overlaps with the climate conditions predicted to be suitable for Bsal. Passive surveillance is considered the most suitable approach for detection of Bsal emergence in wild populations. Demonstration of Bsal absence is considered feasible only in closed populations of kept susceptible species. In the wild, Bsal can spread by both active (e.g. salamanders, anurans) and passive (e.g. birds, water) carriers; it is most likely maintained/spread in infected areas by contacts of salamanders or by interactions with anurans, whereas human activities most likely cause Bsal entry into new areas and populations. In kept amphibians, Bsal contamination via live silent carriers (wild birds and anurans) is considered extremely unlikely. The risk‐mitigation measures that were considered the most feasible and effective: (i) for ensuring safer international or intra‐EU trade of live salamanders, are: ban or restrictions on salamander imports, hygiene procedures and good practice manuals; (ii) for protecting kept salamanders from Bsal, are: identification and treatment of positive collections; (iii) for on‐site protection of wild salamanders, are: preventing translocation of wild amphibians and release/return to the wild of kept/temporarily housed wild salamanders, and setting up contact points/emergency teams for passive surveillance. Combining several risk‐mitigation measures improve the overall effectiveness. It is recommended to: introduce a harmonised protocol for Bsal detection throughout the EU; improve data acquisition on salamander abundance and distribution
Watson JEM, Evans T, Venter O, et al., 2018, The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems, Nature Ecology and Evolution, Vol: 2, Pages: 599-610, ISSN: 2397-334X
As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.
Thurston GD, De Matteis S, Murray K, et al., 2018, Maximizing the public health benefits from climate action, Environmental Science and Technology, Vol: 52, Pages: 3852-3853, ISSN: 0013-936X
Watts N, Amann M, Ayeb-Karlsson S, et al., 2017, The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health, Lancet, Vol: 391, Pages: 581-630, ISSN: 0140-6736
The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international, multi-disciplinary research collaboration between academic institutions and practitioners across the world. It follows on from the work of the 2015 Lancet Commission, which concluded that the response to climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”.The Lancet Countdown aims to track the health effects of climate change; health resilience and adaptation; health co-benefits of mitigation; climate economics and finance; and political and broader engagement. These focus areas form the five thematic working groups of the Lancet Countdown and represent different aspects of the complex relationships between health and climate change. These thematic groups will provide indicators for a global overview of health and climate change; national case studies highlighting countries leading the way or going against the trend; and engagement with a range of stakeholders.The Lancet Countdown ultimately aims to report annually on a series of indicators across these five working groups. This paper outlines these potential indicators and indicator domains to be tracked by the collaboration, with suggestions on the methodologies, and data sets available to achieve this end. The proposed indicator domains require further refinement, and mark the beginning of an ongoing consultation process – from November 2016 to early 2017 – to develop these domains, identify key areas not currently covered, and change indicators where necessary. It will actively seek to engage with existing monitoring processes, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the World Health Organization’s Climate and Health Country Profiles. Additionally, the indicators will evolve throughout their lifetime through ongoing collaboration with experts and a range of stakeholders, and dependent on the emergence of new evidence and knowledge. During the course
Allen T, Murray KA, Zambrana-Torrelio C, et al., 2017, Global hotspots and correlates of emerging zoonotic diseases, Nature Communications, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2041-1723
Zoonoses originating from wildlife represent a significant threat to global health, security and economic growth, and combatting their emergence is a public health priority. However, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying their emergence remains rudimentary. Here we update a global database of emerging infectious disease (EID) events, create a novel measure of reporting effort, and fit boosted regression tree models to analyze the demographic, environmental and biological correlates of their occurrence. After accounting for reporting effort, we show that zoonotic EID risk is elevated in forested tropical regions experiencing land-use changes and where wildlife biodiversity (mammal species richness) is high. We present a new global hotspot map of spatial variation in our zoonotic EID risk index, and partial dependence plots illustrating relationships between events and predictors. Our results may help to improve surveillance and long-term EID monitoring programs, and design field experiments to test underlying mechanisms of zoonotic disease emergence.
Knight GM, Costelloe C, Murray KA, et al., 2017, Addressing the unknowns of antimicrobial resistance: quantifying and mapping the drivers of burden, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol: 66, Pages: 612-616, ISSN: 1058-4838
The global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has arisen through a network of complex interacting factors. Many different sources and transmission pathways contribute to the ever-growing burden of AMR in our clinical settings. The lack of data on these mechanisms and the relative importance of different factors causing the emergence and spread of AMR hampers our global efforts to effectively manage the risks. Importantly, we have little quantitative knowledge on the relative contributions of these sources and are likely to be targeting our interventions suboptimally as a result. Here we propose a systems mapping approach to address the urgent need for reliable and timely data in order to strengthen the response to AMR.
Allen T, Murray K, Zambrana-Torrelio C, et al., 2017, Global correlates of emerging zoonoses: Anthropogenic, environmental, and biodiversity risk factors (vol 53, pg 21, 2016), INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, Vol: 58, Pages: 68-68, ISSN: 1201-9712
Cable J, Barber I, Boag B, et al., 2017, Global change, parasite transmission and disease control: lessons from ecology, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, Vol: 372, ISSN: 0962-8436
Parasitic infections are ubiquitous in wildlife, livestock and human populations, and healthy ecosystems are often parasite rich. Yet, their negative impacts can be extreme. Understanding how both anticipated and cryptic changes in a system might affect parasite transmission at an individual, local and global level is critical for sustainable control in humans and livestock. Here we highlight and synthesize evidence regarding potential effects of ‘system changes’ (both climatic and anthropogenic) on parasite transmission from wild host–parasite systems. Such information could inform more efficient and sustainable parasite control programmes in domestic animals or humans. Many examples from diverse terrestrial and aquatic natural systems show how abiotic and biotic factors affected by system changes can interact additively, multiplicatively or antagonistically to influence parasite transmission, including through altered habitat structure, biodiversity, host demographics and evolution. Despite this, few studies of managed systems explicitly consider these higher-order interactions, or the subsequent effects of parasite evolution, which can conceal or exaggerate measured impacts of control actions. We call for a more integrated approach to investigating transmission dynamics, which recognizes these complexities and makes use of new technologies for data capture and monitoring, and to support robust predictions of altered parasite dynamics in a rapidly changing world.
Balàž V, Gortázar Schmidt C, Murray K, et al., 2017, Scientific and technical assistance concerning the survival, establishment and spread of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) in the EU, EFSA Journal, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1831-4732
A new fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), was identified in wild populations of salamanders in the Netherlands and Belgium, and in kept salamander populations in Germany and the United Kingdom. EFSA assessed the potential of Bsal to affect the health of wild and kept salamanders in the EU, the effectiveness and feasibility of a movement ban of traded salamanders, the validity, reliability and robustness of available diagnostic methods for Bsal detection, and possible alternative methods and feasible risk mitigation measures to ensure safe international and EU trade of salamanders and their products. Bsal was isolated and characterised in 2013 from a declining fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) population in the Netherlands. Based on the available evidence, it is likely that Bsal is a sufficient cause for the death of S. salamandra both in the laboratory and in the wild. Despite small sample sizes, the available experimental evidence indicates that Bsal is associated with disease and death in individuals of 12 European and 3 Asian salamander species, and with high mortality rate outbreaks in kept salamanders. Bsal experimental infection was detected in individuals of at least one species pertaining to the families Salamandridae, Plethodontidae, Hynobiidae and Sirenidae. Movement bans constitute key risk mitigation measures to prevent pathogen spread into naïve areas and populations. The effectiveness of a movement ban is mainly dependent on the import volumes, possibility of Bsal to remain viable outside susceptible/tolerant species, and the capacity to limit illegal movements. Duplex real-time PCR can be used to detect Bsal DNA, but has not been fully validated. Quarantining salamanders, enacting legislation that requires testing of animals to demonstrate freedom from Bsal, before movement can take place, restricting salamander movements, tracking all traded species, hygienic procedures/biosecurity measures before and during movements, and in
Kelly TR, Karesh WB, Johnson CK, et al., 2017, One Health proof of concept: Bringing a transdisciplinary approach to surveillance for zoonotic viruses at the human-wild animal interface, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Vol: 137, Pages: 112-118, ISSN: 0167-5877
As the world continues to react and respond inefficiently to emerging infectious diseases, such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome and the Ebola and Zika viruses, a growing transdisciplinary community has called for a more proactive and holistic approach to prevention and preparedness - One Health. Such an approach presents important opportunities to reduce the impact of disease emergence events and also to mitigate future emergence through improved cross-sectoral coordination. In an attempt to provide proof of concept of the utility of the One Health approach, the US Agency for International Development's PREDICT project consortium designed and implemented a targeted, risk-based surveillance strategy based not on humans as sentinels of disease but on detecting viruses early, at their source, where intervention strategies can be implemented before there is opportunity for spillover and spread in people or food animals. Here, we share One Health approaches used by consortium members to illustrate the potential for successful One Health outcomes that can be achieved through collaborative, transdisciplinary partnerships. PREDICT's collaboration with partners around the world on strengthening local capacity to detect hundreds of viruses in wild animals, coupled with a series of cutting-edge virological and analytical activities, have significantly improved our baseline knowledge on the zoonotic pool of viruses and the risk of exposure to people. Further testament to the success of the project's One Health approach and the work of its team of dedicated One Health professionals are the resulting 90 peer-reviewed, scientific publications in under 5 years that improve our understanding of zoonoses and the factors influencing their emergence. The findings are assisting in global health improvements, including surveillance science, diagnostic technologies, understanding of viral evolution, and ecological driver identification. Through its One Health leadership and multi-d
Watts N, Adger WN, Ayeb-Karlsson S, et al., 2016, The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change, The Lancet, Vol: 389, Pages: 1151-1164, ISSN: 0140-6736
The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change is an international, multidisciplinary research collaboration between academic institutions and practitioners across the world. It follows on from the work of the 2015 Lancet Commission, which concluded that the response to climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”. The Lancet Countdown aims to track the health impacts of climate hazards; health resilience and adaptation; health co-benefits of climate change mitigation; economics and finance; and political and broader engagement. These focus areas form the five thematic working groups of the Lancet Countdown and represent different aspects of the complex association between health and climate change. These thematic groups will provide indicators for a global overview of health and climate change; national case studies highlighting countries leading the way or going against the trend; and engagement with a range of stakeholders. The Lancet Countdown ultimately aims to report annually on a series of indicators across these five working groups. This paper outlines the potential indicators and indicator domains to be tracked by the collaboration, with suggestions on the methodologies and datasets available to achieve this end. The proposed indicator domains require further refinement, and mark the beginning of an ongoing consultation process—from November, 2016 to early 2017—to develop these domains, identify key areas not currently covered, and change indicators where necessary. This collaboration will actively seek to engage with existing monitoring processes, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and WHO's climate and health country profiles. The indicators will also evolve over time through ongoing collaboration with experts and a range of stakeholders, and be dependent on the emergence of new evidence and knowledge. During the course of its work, the Lancet Countdown will ad
Murray KA, Loh E, Nava A, et al., 2016, EVALUATING THE LINKS BETWEEN BIODIVERSITY, LAND-USE CHANGE, AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE EMERGENCE IN TROPICAL FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPES, Tropical Conservation: Perspectives on Local and Global Priorities, Editors: Aguirre, Sukumar
Murray KA, Segan DB, Watson JEM, 2016, A global assessment of current and future biodiversity vulnerability to habitat loss-climate change interactions, Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol: 5, Pages: 12-21, ISSN: 2351-9894
Habitat loss is the greatest threat to biodiversity and rapid, human-forced climate changeis likely to exacerbate this. Here we present the first global assessment of current andpotential future impacts on biodiversity of a habitat loss and fragmentation–climate change(HLF–CC) interaction. A recent meta-analysis demonstrated that the negative impacts ofhabitat loss and fragmentation have been disproportionately severe in areas with hightemperatures in the warmest month and declining rainfall, although impacts also variedacross vegetation types. We compiled an integrated global database of past, current andfuture climate variables and past vegetation loss to identify ecoregions where (i) pastclimate change is most likely to have exacerbated the impacts of HLF, and (ii) forecastedclimate change is most likely to exacerbate the impacts of HLF in the future. We found thatrecent climate change is likely (probability>66%) to have exacerbated the impacts of HLF in120 (18.5%) ecoregions. Impacted ecoregions are disproportionately biodiverse, containingover half (54.1%) of all known terrestrial amphibian, bird, mammal, and reptile species.Forecasts from the RCP8.5 emissions scenario suggest that nearly half of ecoregions globally(n = 283, 43.5%) will become impacted during the 21st century. To minimize ongoing andfuture HLF–CC impacts on biodiversity, ecoregions where impacts are most likely mustbecome priorities for proactive conservation actions that avoid loss of native vegetation(e.g., protected area establishment). Highly degraded ecoregions where impacts are mostlikely should be priorities for restoration and candidates for unconventional conservationactions (e.g. translocation of species).
Murray KA, Allen T, Loh E, et al., 2016, Emerging Viral Zoonoses from Wildlife Associated with Animal-Based Food Systems: Risks and Opportunities, FOOD SAFETY RISKS FROM WILDLIFE: CHALLENGES IN AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION, AND PUBLIC HEALTH, Editors: JayRussell, Doyle, Publisher: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, Pages: 31-57, ISBN: 978-3-319-24440-2
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 15
Murray KA, Baselga A, 2015, Reply to Chen and Schmera: Partitioning beta diversity into replacement and nestedness-resultant components is not controversial, PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Vol: 112, Pages: E7162-E7162, ISSN: 0027-8424
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 3
Murray KA, Baselga A, 2015, Partitioning beta diversity into replacement and nestedness- resultant components is not controversial, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ISSN: 1091-6490
Murray KA, Preston N, Allen T, et al., 2015, Global biogeography of human infectious diseases, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol: 112, Pages: 12746-12751, ISSN: 1091-6490
The distributions of most infectious agents causing disease in humans are poorly resolved or unknown. However, poorly known and unknown agents contribute to the global burden of disease and will underlie many future disease risks. Existing patterns of infectious disease co-occurrence could thus play a critical role in resolving or anticipating current and future disease threats. We analyzed the global occurrence patterns of 187 human infectious diseases across 225 countries and seven epidemiological classes (human-specific, zoonotic, vector-borne, non–vector-borne, bacterial, viral, and parasitic) to show that human infectious diseases exhibit distinct spatial grouping patterns at a global scale. We demonstrate, using outbreaks of Ebola virus as a test case, that this spatial structuring provides an untapped source of prior information that could be used to tighten the focus of a range of health-related research and management activities at early stages or in data-poor settings, including disease surveillance, outbreak responses, or optimizing pathogen discovery. In examining the correlates of these spatial patterns, among a range of geographic, epidemiological, environmental, and social factors, mammalian biodiversity was the strongest predictor of infectious disease co-occurrence overall and for six of the seven disease classes examined, giving rise to a striking congruence between global pathogeographic and “Wallacean” zoogeographic patterns. This clear biogeographic signal suggests that infectious disease assemblages remain fundamentally constrained in their distributions by ecological barriers to dispersal or establishment, despite the homogenizing forces of globalization. Pathogeography thus provides an overarching context in which other factors promoting infectious disease emergence and spread are set.
Murray KA, Berger L, Roberts AA, et al., 2015, History and recent progress on chytridiomycosis in amphibians, Fungal Ecology, ISSN: 1878-0083
Voyles J, Kilpatrick AM, Collins JP, et al., 2015, Moving Beyond Too Little, Too Late: Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases in Wild Populations Requires International Policy and Partnerships, ECOHEALTH, Vol: 12, Pages: 404-407, ISSN: 1612-9202
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 38
Langwig KE, Voyles J, Wilber MQ, et al., 2015, Context-dependent conservation responses to emerging wildlife diseases, FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Vol: 13, Pages: 195-202, ISSN: 1540-9295
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 130
Suzan G, Garcia-Pena GE, Castro-Arellano I, et al., 2015, Metacommunity and phylogenetic structure determine wildlife and zoonotic infectious disease patterns in time and space, ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, Vol: 5, Pages: 865-873, ISSN: 2045-7758
- Author Web Link
- Open Access Link
- Cite
- Citations: 56
Murray KA, 2014, Moving beyond too little, too late: managing emerging infectious diseases in wild populations requires international policy and partnerships, Ecohealth, ISSN: 1612-9210
Schwind JS, Wolking DJ, Brownstein JS, et al., 2014, Evaluation of local media surveillance for improved disease recognition and monitoring in global hotspot regions., PLoS One, Vol: 9
Digital disease detection tools are technologically sophisticated, but dependent on digital information, which for many areas suffering from high disease burdens is simply not an option. In areas where news is often reported in local media with no digital counterpart, integration of local news information with digital surveillance systems, such as HealthMap (Boston Children's Hospital), is critical. Little research has been published in regards to the specific contribution of local health-related articles to digital surveillance systems. In response, the USAID PREDICT project implemented a local media surveillance (LMS) pilot study in partner countries to monitor disease events reported in print media. This research assessed the potential of LMS to enhance digital surveillance reach in five low- and middle-income countries. Over 16 weeks, select surveillance system attributes of LMS, such as simplicity, flexibility, acceptability, timeliness, and stability were evaluated to identify strengths and weaknesses in the surveillance method. Findings revealed that LMS filled gaps in digital surveillance network coverage by contributing valuable localized information on disease events to the global HealthMap database. A total of 87 health events were reported through the LMS pilot in the 16-week monitoring period, including 71 unique reports not found by the HealthMap digital detection tool. Furthermore, HealthMap identified an additional 236 health events outside of LMS. It was also observed that belief in the importance of the project and proper source selection from the participants was crucial to the success of this method. The timely identification of disease outbreaks near points of emergence and the recognition of risk factors associated with disease occurrence continue to be important components of any comprehensive surveillance system for monitoring disease activity across populations. The LMS method, with its minimal resource commitment, could be one tool used to
Allen T, Murray K, Olival KJ, et al., 2014, EIGHT CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR PANDEMIC PREDICTION, INFLUENCE OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ON INFECTIOUS DISEASE DYNAMICS: WORKSHOP SUMMARY, Publisher: NATL ACADEMIES PRESS, Pages: 182-193
Murray KA, Verde Arregoitia LD, Davidson A, et al., 2013, Threat to the point: Improving the value of comparative extinction risk analysis for conservation action, Global Change Biology, Vol: 20, Pages: 483-494, ISSN: 1354-1013
Comparative extinction risk analysis is a common approach for assessing the relative plight of biodiversity and making conservation recommendations. However, the usefulness of such analyses for conservation practice has been questioned. One reason for underperformance may be that threats arising from global environmental changes (e.g., habitat loss, invasive species, climate change) are often overlooked, despite being widely regarded as proximal drivers of species' endangerment. We explore this problem by (i) reviewing the use of threats in this field and (ii) quantitatively investigating the effects of threat exclusion on the interpretation and potential application of extinction risk model results. We show that threat variables are routinely (59%) identified as significant predictors of extinction risk, yet while most studies (78%) include extrinsic factors of some kind (e.g., geographic or bioclimatic information), the majority (63%) do not include threats. Despite low overall usage, studies are increasingly employing threats to explain patterns of extinction risk. However, most continue to employ methods developed for the analysis of heritable traits (e.g., body size, fecundity), which may be poorly suited to the treatment of nonheritable predictors including threats. In our global mammal and continental amphibian extinction risk case studies, omitting threats reduced model predictive performance, but more importantly (i) reduced mechanistic information relevant to management; (ii) resulted in considerable disagreement in species classifications (12% and 5% for amphibians and mammals, respectively, translating to dozens and hundreds of species); and (iii) caused even greater disagreement (20-60%) in a downstream conservation application (species ranking). We conclude that the use of threats in comparative extinction risk analysis is important and increasing but currently in the early stages of development. Priorities for future studies include improving uptake
Loh EH, Murray KA, Zambrana-Torrelio C, et al., 2013, Ecological Approaches to Studying Zoonoses., Microbiol Spectr, Vol: 1, ISSN: 2165-0497
Concern over emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and a better understanding of their causes has resulted in increasing recognition of the linkages among human, animal, and ecosystem health. It is now well recognized that human activities can promote the emergence of infectious diseases through the large-scale modification of natural environments and inadvertent vectoring (e.g., international trade and travel). These perturbations can alter the ecological and evolutionary relationships among humans, wildlife, and the pathogens that move between them, resulting in disease emergence. In recent years, the rise in zoonotic EIDs has not only increased our awareness of the need for cross-sectoral collaborations, but has also highlighted the disconnect between current ecological theory and biological reality. As the One Health movement continues to gain steam, further integration of ecological approaches into the One Health framework will be required. We discuss the importance of ecological methods and theory to the study of zoonotic diseases by (i) discussing key ecological concepts and approaches, (ii) reviewing methods of studying wildlife diseases and their potential applications for zoonoses, and (iii) identifying future directions in the One Health movement.
Anthony SJ, Epstein JH, Murray KA, et al., 2013, A strategy to estimate unknown viral diversity in mammals, mBio, Vol: 4, ISSN: 2150-7511
The majority of emerging zoonoses originate in wildlife, and many are caused by viruses. However, there are no rigorous estimates of total viral diversity (here termed “virodiversity”) for any wildlife species, despite the utility of this to future surveillance and control of emerging zoonoses. In this case study, we repeatedly sampled a mammalian wildlife host known to harbor emerging zoonotic pathogens (the Indian Flying Fox, Pteropus giganteus) and used PCR with degenerate viral family-level primers to discover and analyze the occurrence patterns of 55 viruses from nine viral families. We then adapted statistical techniques used to estimate biodiversity in vertebrates and plants and estimated the total viral richness of these nine families in P. giganteus to be 58 viruses. Our analyses demonstrate proof-of-concept of a strategy for estimating viral richness and provide the first statistically supported estimate of the number of undiscovered viruses in a mammalian host. We used a simple extrapolation to estimate that there are a minimum of 320,000 mammalian viruses awaiting discovery within these nine families, assuming all species harbor a similar number of viruses, with minimal turnover between host species. We estimate the cost of discovering these viruses to be ~$6.3 billion (or ~$1.4 billion for 85% of the total diversity), which if annualized over a 10-year study time frame would represent a small fraction of the cost of many pandemic zoonoses.
Di Marco M, Rondinini C, Boitani L, et al., 2013, Comparing multiple species distribution proxies and different quantifications of the human footprint map, implications for conservation, BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, Vol: 165, Pages: 203-211, ISSN: 0006-3207
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 30
This data is extracted from the Web of Science and reproduced under a licence from Thomson Reuters. You may not copy or re-distribute this data in whole or in part without the written consent of the Science business of Thomson Reuters.