This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features!
Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

NIH NLM Logo
Log in
Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2007 May 17;447(7142):279-83.
doi: 10.1038/nature05775.

Origins of major human infectious diseases

Affiliations
Review

Origins of major human infectious diseases

Nathan D Wolfe et al. Nature. .

Abstract

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 exclusively infecting animals may become transformed into a pathogen exclusively infecting humans. We propose an initiative to resolve disputed origins of major diseases, and a global early warning system to monitor pathogens infecting individuals exposed to wild animals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Reprints and permissions information is available at www.nature.com/reprints. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Illustration of the five stages through which pathogens of animals evolve to cause diseases confined to humans.
(See Box 1 for details.) The four agents depicted have reached different stages in the process, ranging from rabies (still acquired only from animals) to HIV-1 (now acquired only from humans).

References

    1. Diamond J. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies. 1997.
    1. Dobson AP, Carper ER. Infectious diseases and human population history. Bioscience. 1996;46:115–126. doi: 10.2307/1312814. - DOI
    1. Diamond J, Panosian C. When Disease Makes History: Epidemics and Great Historical Turning Points. 2006. pp. 17–44.
    1. McNeill WH. Plagues and Peoples. 1976. - PubMed
    1. Crosby AW. Ecological Imperialism: the Biological Expansion of Europe. 1986. pp. 900–1900.

Publication types

Full text links
Nature Publishing Group full text link Nature Publishing Group Free PMC article
Cite

AltStyle によって変換されたページ (->オリジナル) /