Abstract
An updated literature survey identified 1,407 recognized species of human pathogen, 58% of which are zoonotic. Of the total, 177 are regarded as emerging or reemerging. Zoonotic pathogens are twice as likely to be in this category as are nonzoonotic pathogens. Emerging and reemerging pathogens are not strongly associated with particular types of nonhuman hosts, but they are most likely to have the broadest host ranges. Emerging and reemerging zoonoses are associated with a wide range of drivers, but changes in land use and agriculture and demographic and societal changes are most commonly cited. However, although zoonotic pathogens do represent the most likely source of emerging and reemerging infectious disease, only a small minority have proved capable of causing major epidemics in the human population.
Keywords
BiologyZoonotic diseaseEmerging infectious diseaseZoonosisHost (biology)Human pathogenPopulationDiseaseVirologyEnvironmental healthEcologyMedicineGeneticsOutbreakBacteria
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Diseases of humans and their domestic mammals: pathogen characteristics, host range and the risk of emergence
Pathogens that can be transmitted between different host species are of fundamental interest and importance from public health, conservation and economic perspectives, yet syste...
Risk factors for human disease emergence
A comprehensive literature review identifies 1415 species of infectious organism known to be pathogenic to humans, including 217 viruses and prions, 538 bacteria and rickettsia,...
Origins of major human infectious diseases
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. Wher...
The challenge of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases
Infectious diseases have for centuries ranked with wars and famine as major challenges to human progress and survival. They remain among the leading causes of death and disabili...
The European Union One Health 2020 Zoonoses Report
This report of the EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of zoonoses monitoring activities carried out in 2020 in 27 EU Member Sta...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2005
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1842-1847
- Citations
- 1517
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
1517
OpenAlex
Cite This
Mark Woolhouse,
Sonya Gowtage-Sequeria
(2005).
Host Range and Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens.
Emerging infectious diseases
, 11
(12)
, 1842-1847.
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1112.050997
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.3201/eid1112.050997