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Volume 23, Number 1—January 2017
Perspective

A Framework for Modeling Emerging Diseases to Inform Management

Robin E. RussellComments to Author , Rachel A. Katz1, Katherine L.D. Richgels1, Daniel P. Walsh1, and Evan H.C. Grant1
Author affiliations: U.S. Geological Survey, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (R.E. Russell, K.L.D. Richgels, D.P. Walsh); University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA (R.A. Katz); U.S. Geological Survey, Turner Falls, Massachusetts, USA (R.A. Katz, E.H.C. Grant); University of Wisconsin, Madison (K.L.D. Richgels)

Main Article

Table

Key information needs for management of emerging diseases of wildlife

Pathogen characteristics Description
Pathogenicity What is the severity, lethality, and rapidity (rate of mortality) of effects on hosts?
Environmental niche What environmental conditions (temperature, humidity) restrict persistence?
Taxonomic breadth of host
 Is there evidence that the agent type can affect hosts across multiple taxa? Which taxa?
Host characteristics
Contact networks Spatial structure: What is the spatial structure of host populations: panmictic, metapopulations, or isolated? Does this vary across the landscape?
Movement patterns: What is the average and maximum distance an infected host might travel?
Social behavior: What is the social behavior of individual members in the host populations? What is the rate of contact between species?
Transmission pathways How is the pathogen transmitted between hosts? How many different transmission pathways are there?

Main Article

1These authors contributed equally to this article.

Page created: December 14, 2016
Page updated: December 14, 2016
Page reviewed: December 14, 2016
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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