New Project Identifies Factors Influencing Animal-to-Human Disease Transmission
A groundbreaking new project is aiming to shed light on the transmission of diseases from animals to humans, particularly focusing on the influence of changing seasons, land use, and human behavior. Led by a team of scientists from prestigious institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Royal Veterinary College, Oxford University, and the University of Glasgow, this research endeavor aims to identify hotspots with a high potential for disease spillover into human populations.
The project, co-led by Barbara Han, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, will address the challenge of studying how changing environmental conditions impact virus transmission in the wild. With $2.9 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and an additional $1.9M in support from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the project will employ a novel approach known as metaviromics, in combination with traditional disease ecology methods.
Metaviromics, unlike other targeted genetic sequencing techniques, allows for a comprehensive scan of a broad range of viruses in rodents, enabling the researchers to observe how these viruses change over time and space. The study will primarily focus on RNA-based viruses, including coronaviruses, hantaviruses, and enteroviruses, which pose a significant risk to human health.
The project holds considerable importance as it will test the effectiveness of metaviromics in identifying potential new epidemics. Samuel Scheiner, Program Director for the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation, expressed enthusiasm, stating, The methods developed here potentially have very wide applicability across many pathogens.
According to James Hassell, a wildlife veterinarian and epidemiologist for the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Global Health Program, viruses are most likely to jump from animals to humans when animal hosts have high viral loads and frequent contact with people. The chances of a virus reaching high levels or potentially infecting humans also depend on seasonal factors, animal population density, and the frequency of their contact with people.
To explore these dynamics, the research team will conduct fieldwork in both the UK and Eastern Uganda, focusing on wild rodents and the viruses they carry. Rodents are responsible for transmitting more zoonotic diseases to humans than any other mammalian order. Additionally, many rodent species live in close proximity to human populations and are highly susceptible to environmental changes.
Fieldwork will involve trapping rodents, tagging them, and collecting fecal samples to extract viral RNA. The use of radio frequency identification tags will allow researchers to monitor the health and viral loads of individual rodents, as well as estimate their movement, range, and social contacts.
The team will track wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) in Wytham Woods in the UK for three years to identify key drivers of virus transmission in seasonal environments. In Eastern Uganda, where forests are being converted into agricultural fields, the project will observe rodent populations and viral dynamics across different landscapes, ranging from forests to fields and villages. To determine the frequency of human-rodent contact, questionnaires, household rodent infestation measurements, and human movement and land use data will be analyzed.
Understanding how various factors interact to influence virus abundance and spillover risk will be aided by the use of artificial intelligence and mathematical modeling. By effectively quantifying and predicting the emergence of viruses in the wild, these methods, combined with metaviromics data, will aid in disease surveillance efforts and enable the detection of emerging diseases before they turn into pandemics.
Barbara Han emphasized the project’s significance, stating, This project is fundamental to being able to make better, more actionable predictions about viral emergence at scales where management can actually mitigate disease emergence.
This ambitious research endeavor holds the potential to revolutionize our understanding of animal-to-human disease transmission and improve our ability to respond effectively to emerging viral threats. By combining cutting-edge technologies, fieldwork, and interdisciplinary collaboration, the project aims to safeguard public health and enhance disease surveillance efforts in an ever-changing world.
