The Mount Sinai journal of medicine, New York
-
The majority of newly emerging diseases are zoonoses caused by pathogens transmitted directly or indirectly through arthropod vectors to humans. Transmission chains leading to human infection frequently involve intermediate vertebrate hosts, including wildlife and domestic animals. Animal-based surveillance of domestic and wild animals for zoonotic pathogens is a global challenge. ⋯ Novel schemes for preventing spillover of human pathogens from animal reservoir hosts can spring only from an understanding of the ecological context and biological interactions that result in zoonotic disease emergence. Although the benefits derived from investments to improve surveillance and knowledge of zoonotic pathogens circulating among wildlife reservoir populations are uncertain, our experience with human immunodeficiency virus and the pandemic influenza inform us of the outcomes that we can expect by relying on detection of post-spillover events among sentinel humans. Mt Sinai J Med 76:421-428, 2009. (c) 2009 Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
-
Xenotransplantation is the attempt to use living biological material from nonhuman animal species in humans for therapeutic purposes. Clinical trials and preclinical studies have suggested that living cells and tissue from other species have the potential to be used in humans to ameliorate disease. However, the potential for successful xenotransplantation to cure human disease is coupled with the risk that therapeutic use of living nonhuman cells in humans may also serve to introduce xenogeneic infections of unpredictable significance. ⋯ However, endogenous retroviruses are present in the genomes of all mammalian cells, have an inadequately defined ability to infect human cells, and have generated public health concern. The history of xenotransplantation, the implications for public health, the global consensus on public safeguards necessary to accompany clinical trials, and the future direction of xenotransplantation are discussed in the context of public health. Mt Sinai J Med 76:435-441, 2009. (c) 2009 Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
-
Zooanthroponotic pathogens, which are transmitted from humans to nonhuman animals, are an understudied aspect of global health, despite their potential to cause significant disease burden in wild and domestic animal populations and affect global economies. Some key human-borne pathogens that have been shown to infect animals and cause morbidity and mortality include measles virus (paramyxoviruses), influenza A virus (orthomyxoviruses), herpes simplex 1 virus (herpesviruses), protozoal and helminthic parasites, and bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, zooanthroponotic pathogens are most commonly reported in captive animals or domestic livestock with close human contact; there, the potential for economic loss and human reinfection is most apparent. ⋯ Many of the anthropogenic drivers of zoonotic disease emergence also facilitate zooanthroponotic transmission. Increasing research to better understand the occurrence of and the potential for bidirectional pathogen transmission between humans and animals is essential for improving global health. Mt Sinai J Med 76:448-455, 2009. (c) 2009 Mount Sinai School of Medicine.