The changing face of pathogen discovery and surveillance

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Abstract

The emergence of new microbial infections is ever more likely with the globalization of trade and travel, changes to agricultural practices and climate change. However, as Lipkin describes in this Essay, this threat is being met by dramatic technological advances in pathogen discovery, surveillance and modelling.

Abstract

The pace of pathogen discovery is rapidly accelerating. This reflects not only factors that enable the appearance and globalization of new microbial infections, but also improvements in methods for ascertaining the cause of a new disease. Innovative molecular diagnostic platforms, investments in pathogen surveillance (in wildlife, domestic animals and humans) and the advent of social media tools that mine the World Wide Web for clues indicating the occurrence of infectious-disease outbreaks are all proving to be invaluable for the early recognition of threats to public health. In addition, models of microbial pathogenesis are becoming more complex, providing insights into the mechanisms by which microorganisms can contribute to chronic illnesses like cancer, peptic ulcer disease and mental illness. Here, I review the factors that contribute to infectious-disease emergence, as well as strategies for addressing the challenges of pathogen surveillance and discovery.

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Most cited references 102

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The next new disease Emerging infectious diseases are a major threat to health: AIDS, SARS, drug-resistant bacteria and Ebola virus are among the more recent examples. By identifying emerging disease 'hotspots', the thinking goes, it should be possible to spot health risks at an early stage and prepare containment strategies. An analysis of over 300 examples of disease emerging between 1940 and 2004 suggests that these hotspots can be accurately mapped based on socio-economic, environmental and ecological factors. The data show that the surveillance effort, and much current research spending, is concentrated in developed economies, yet the risk maps point to developing countries as the more likely source of new diseases. Supplementary information The online version of this article (doi:10.1038/nature06536) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Characterization of a novel coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome.

P Rota (2003)

In March 2003, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was discovered in association with cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The sequence of the complete genome of SARS-CoV was determined, and the initial characterization of the viral genome is presented in this report. The genome of SARS-CoV is 29,727 nucleotides in length and has 11 open reading frames, and its genome organization is similar to that of other coronaviruses. Phylogenetic analyses and sequence comparisons showed that SARS-CoV is not closely related to any of the previously characterized coronaviruses.

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Lora Hooper, Dan R. Littman, Andrew Macpherson (2012)

The large numbers of microorganisms that inhabit mammalian body surfaces have a highly coevolved relationship with the immune system. Although many of these microbes carry out functions that are critical for host physiology, they nevertheless pose the threat of breach with ensuing pathologies. The mammalian immune system plays an essential role in maintaining homeostasis with resident microbial communities, thus ensuring that the mutualistic nature of the host-microbial relationship is maintained. At the same time, resident bacteria profoundly shape mammalian immunity. Here, we review advances in our understanding of the interactions between resident microbes and the immune system and the implications of these findings for human health.

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Author and article information

Contributors

W. Ian Lipkin: wil2001@columbia.edu

Bio :

W. Ian Lipkin is the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Columbia University, New York, USA. He is internationally recognized for the development and implementation of molecular methods for microbial surveillance and discovery. He directs the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University (a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Diagnostics, Surveillance and Immunotherapeutics for Emerging Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases) and the Northeast Biodefense Center, USA, and is co-chair of the National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Yonkers, New York, he obtained his M.D. at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, USA, followed by a Residency in Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, a Residency in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, and a fellowship with Michael Oldstone at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California. His contributions include the first identification of an infectious agent using purely molecular methods; implicating West Nile virus as the cause of the encephalitis outbreak in New York in 1999; the development of MassTag PCR and panmicrobial microarrays; the use of deep sequencing in pathogen discovery; and the discovery or molecular characterization of more than 500 viruses. He served in Beijing, China, as an intermediary between the WHO and the Chinese government during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002–2003 and co-directed SARS research efforts in China with the current Minister of Health, Chen Zhu. His honours include the following awards: Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, Japanese Human Science Foundation Visiting Professor, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Visiting Bruenn Professor, Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Global Infectious Disease, Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the American Society for Microbiology, John Courage Professor National University of Singapore, Fellow of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Member of the Association of American Physicians and Fellow of the UK Royal Geographical Society.

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Nat Rev Microbiol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Nat. Rev. Microbiol

Title: Nature Reviews. Microbiology

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK (London )

ISSN (Print): 1740-1526

ISSN (Electronic): 1740-1534

Publication date (Electronic): 3 January 2013

Publication date (Print): 2013

Volume: 11

Issue: 2

Pages: 133-141

Affiliations

GRID grid.21729.3f, ISNI 0000000419368729, W. Ian Lipkin is at the Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA, ; ,

Article

Publisher ID: BFnrmicro2949

DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro2949

PMC ID: 4098826

PubMed ID: 23268232

SO-VID: 5d782daf-18da-447f-8c7d-ec2ac9adeebf

License:

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

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Keywords: epidemiology,infectious diseases,public health,pathogens,clinical microbiology,pathogenesis

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Keywords: epidemiology, infectious diseases, public health, pathogens, clinical microbiology, pathogenesis

The changing face of pathogen discovery and surveillance

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Decoding Infection and Transmission

Most cited references 102

Global trends in emerging infectious diseases

Characterization of a novel coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Interactions between the microbiota and the immune system.

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