Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Nature. 2007 May 17;447(7142):279-83.
Related Articles, Links
Click here to read Click here to read
Origins of major human infectious diseases.

Wolfe ND, Dunavan CP, Diamond J.

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1772, USA. nwolfe@ucla.edu

Many of the major human infectious diseases, including some now confined to humans and absent from animals, are 'new' ones that arose only after the origins of agriculture. Where did they come from? Why are they overwhelmingly of Old World origins? Here we show that answers to these questions are different for tropical and temperate diseases; for instance, in the relative importance of domestic animals and wild primates as sources. We identify five intermediate stages through which a pathogen exclusively infecting animals may become transformed into a pathogen exclusively infecting humans. We propose an initiative to resolve disputed origins of major diseases, and a global early warning system to monitor pathogens infecting individuals exposed to wild animals.

Publication Types:
PMID: 17507975 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]