Origins of major human infectious diseases.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wolfe ND
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7095142 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Origins of major human infectious diseases.
Wolfe Nathan D ND Dunavan Claire Panosian CP Diamond Jared J
Nature 20070501 7142
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. Where did they come from? Why are they overwhelmingly of Old World origins? Here we show that answers to these questions are different for tropical and temperate diseases; for instance, in the relative importance of domestic animals and wild primates as sources. We identify five intermediate stages through which a pathogen ex ...[more]
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