Publications by authors named "Daszak P"

Bats are presumed reservoirs of diverse coronaviruses (CoVs) including progenitors of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. However, the evolution and diversification of these coronaviruses remains poorly understood. Here we use a Bayesian statistical framework and a large sequence data set from bat-CoVs (including 589 novel CoV sequences) in China to study their macroevolution, cross-species transmission and dispersal.

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  • - Bats are key carriers of new zoonotic viruses like henipaviruses and coronaviruses, with many unidentified viruses highlighting the need for further research on their evolution and classification.
  • - A study employed Next Generation Sequencing on over 13,000 bat swab samples from China, revealing 846 viruses, including 120 potential new viral species that are closely related to known pathogens affecting humans and livestock.
  • - The findings enhance our understanding of the viral landscape in bats and stress the importance of monitoring these viruses for public and veterinary health, as they could pose emerging infectious disease threats.
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Understanding viral infection dynamics in wildlife hosts can help forecast zoonotic pathogen spillover and human disease risk. Bats are particularly important reservoirs of zoonotic viruses, including some of major public health concern such as Nipah virus, Hendra virus, and SARS-related coronaviruses. Previous work has suggested that metapopulation dynamics, seasonal reproductive patterns, and other bat life history characteristics might explain temporal variation in spillover of bat-associated viruses into people.

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global health threat, and drivers of the emergence of novel strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans are poorly understood at the global scale. We examined correlates of AMR emergence in humans using global data on the origins of novel strains of AMR bacteria from 2006 to 2017, human and livestock antibiotic use, country economic activity and reporting bias indicators. We found that AMR emergence is positively correlated with antibiotic consumption in humans.

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  • * Among 314 bats captured, only three tested positive for CoV RNA, with sequences closely resembling previously identified Kenyan bat coronaviruses, suggesting varied host-virus evolution.
  • * Human surveillance showed no CoV infections among 401 participants, but individuals with higher exposure to bats (like those involved in crop production and hunting) indicated a need for cautious monitoring of potential spillover risks.
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  • Morbilliviruses, highly contagious among mammals, have been identified in bats, but full virus characterization remains limited; this study focuses on myotis bat morbillivirus (MBaMV) discovered in Brazil.
  • MBaMV shows a preference for bat CD150 as an entry receptor in cell lines, successfully replicating in human cells but less efficiently than measles virus, with replication dependent on nectin-4.
  • Although MBaMV infection in human systems is possible, it's likely to be controlled by the human immune response, and it does not cause disease in Jamaican fruit bats, suggesting limited risk for zoonotic transmission to humans.
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As part of a public health behavior change and communication strategy related to the identification of a novel ebolavirus in bats in Sierra Leone in 2016, a consortium of experts launched an effort to create a widely accessible resource for community awareness and education on reducing disease risk. The resulting picture book, , includes technical content developed by a consortium of experts in public health, animal health, conservation, bats, and disease ecology from 30 countries. The book has now been adapted, translated, and used in more than 20 countries in Africa and Asia.

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Being diverse and widely distributed globally, bats are a known reservoir of a series of emerging zoonotic viruses. We studied fecal viromes of twenty-six bats captured in 2015 in the Moscow Region and found 13 of 26 (50%) samples to be coronavirus positive. Of (the Nathusius' pipistrelle), 3 of 6 samples were carriers of a novel MERS-related betacoronavirus.

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Spillovers of Nipah virus (NiV) from Pteropus bats to humans occurs frequently in Bangladesh, but the risk for spillover into other animals is poorly understood. We detected NiV antibodies in cattle, dogs, and cats from 6 sites where spillover human NiV infection cases occurred during 2013-2015.

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Introduction: Bats are critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems and many species are threatened primarily due to global habitat loss. Bats are also important hosts of a range of viruses, several of which have had significant impacts on global public health. The emergence of these viruses has been associated with land-use change and decreased host species richness.

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COVID-19 is the latest zoonotic RNA virus epidemic of concern. Learning how it began and spread will help to determine how to reduce the risk of future events. We review major RNA virus outbreaks since 1967 to identify common features and opportunities to prevent emergence, including ancestral viral origins in birds, bats, and other mammals; animal reservoirs and intermediate hosts; and pathways for zoonotic spillover and community spread, leading to local, regional, or international outbreaks.

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  • Scientists study how viruses and their animal hosts have changed together over time and how they can jump from animals to humans.
  • They used special models to see which newly found viruses from wildlife might be able to infect people, focusing on high-risk areas in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
  • The research shows that new coronaviruses might infect more types of animals compared to other viruses, helping to figure out where to look for potential outbreaks in humans.
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Emerging diseases caused by coronaviruses of likely bat origin (e.g., SARS, MERS, SADS, COVID-19) have disrupted global health and economies for two decades.

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As part of a broad One Health surveillance effort to detect novel viruses in wildlife and people, we report several paramyxovirus sequences sampled primarily from bats during 2013 and 2014 in Brazil and Malaysia, including seven from which we recovered full-length genomes. Of these, six represent the first full-length paramyxovirid genomes sequenced from the Americas, including two that are the first full-length bat morbillivirus genome sequences published to date. Our findings add to the vast number of viral sequences in public repositories, which have been increasing considerably in recent years due to the rising accessibility of metagenomics.

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Knowledge of the dynamics and genetic diversity of Nipah virus circulating in bats and at the human-animal interface is limited by current sampling efforts, which produce few detections of viral RNA. We report a series of investigations at Pteropus medius bat roosts identified near the locations of human Nipah cases in Bangladesh during 2012-2019. Pooled bat urine was collected from 23 roosts; 7 roosts (30%) had >1 sample in which Nipah RNA was detected from the first visit.

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  • - The study examines the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding zoonotic disease transmission among communities involved in wildlife trade in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, to help prevent future outbreaks.
  • - Researchers employed both qualitative (interviews and focus groups) and quantitative (questionnaires) methods, sampling 477 participants for surveys and collecting biological specimens from 254 individuals in targeted areas known for wildlife consumption.
  • - Findings revealed that while participants had some awareness of zoonotic diseases like rabies and bird flu, only 1% of the quantitative study group believed that contact with wild animals could lead to illness; biological tests found only one participant with evidence of a zoonotic infection.
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Background: Interactions between humans and animals are the key elements of zoonotic spillover leading to zoonotic disease emergence. Research to understand the high-risk behaviors associated with disease transmission at the human-animal interface is limited, and few consider regional and local contexts.

Objective: This study employed an integrated behavioral-biological surveillance approach for the early detection of novel and known zoonotic viruses in potentially high-risk populations, in an effort to identify risk factors for spillover and to determine potential foci for risk-mitigation measures.

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The Bornean sun bear () is the smallest subspecies of sun bear. Their numbers are declining, and more research is needed to better understand their health and biology. Forty-four bears housed at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) in Sabah, Malaysia, were screened for known and novel viruses in November 2018.

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One cause of the high rate of COVID-19 cases in the USA is thought to be insufficient prior capital investment in national health programs to preemptively reduce the likelihood of an outbreak and in national capacity to reduce the severity of any outbreak that does occur. We analyze the choice of capital investments (e.g.

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  • Over the last 100 years, more people have died and lost money because of viral illnesses that humans get from animals.
  • Some leaders suggest we should only react and try to fix things after people get sick, but many experts think this isn't the best plan.
  • They recommend taking steps before problems happen, like keeping a closer watch on wildlife viruses, controlling animal trade better, and reducing deforestation, which are much cheaper than the losses we suffer from the illnesses.
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