Zoonotic pathogens spread from animals to humans, and sometimes from humans back to animals. Mapping out the step-by-step pathway different zoonotic pathogens follow could help with surveillance efforts designed to prevent outbreaks. Raina Plowright of Montana State University is working with infectious disease experts, ecologists, and a range of other scientists to develop a general framework of the factors that influence how infectious agents jump from one species to another.
In the framework, Plowright and her colleagues identify three main areas that affect spillover: the physiology and ecology the reservoir species, how infected animals come in contact with humans, and what happens to humans after exposure to infection. Within those three broad categories are more detailed factors that affect whether the pathogen can jump from animals to people and whether it will spark an epidemic in the human population. Because different zoonotic pathogens travel different pathways from reservoir animal to ...
