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1. Human adaptation, demography and cattle domestication: an overview of the complexity of lactase persistence in Africa

   https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddab027  

   Campbell, Michael C; Ranciaro, Alessia (March 2021, Human Molecular Genetics)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Lactase persistence (LP) is a genetically-determined trait that is prevalent in African, European and Arab populations with a tradition of animal herding and milk consumption. To date, genetic analyses have identified several common variants that are associated with LP. Furthermore, data have indicated that these functional alleles likely have been maintained in pastoralist populations due to the action of recent selection, exemplifying the ongoing evolution of anatomically modern humans. Additionally, demographic history has also played a role in the geographic distribution of LP and associated alleles in Africa. In particular, the migration of ancestral herders and their subsequent admixture with local populations were integral to the spread of LP alleles and the culture of pastoralism across the continent. The timing of these demographic events was often correlated with known major environmental changes and/or the ability of domesticated cattle to resist/avoid infectious diseases. This review summarizes recent advances in our understanding of the genetic basis and evolutionary history of LP, as well as the factors that influenced the origin and spread of pastoralism in Africa. 

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2. Environmental Persistence of the World's Most Burdensome Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.892366  

   Hopkins, Skylar R.; Jones, Isabel J.; Buck, Julia C.; LeBoa, Christopher; Kwong, Laura H.; Jacobsen, Kim; Rickards, Chloe; Lund, Andrea J.; Nova, Nicole; MacDonald, Andrew J.; et al (July 2022, Frontiers in Public Health)

   Humans live in complex socio-ecological systems where we interact with parasites and pathogens that spend time in abiotic and biotic environmental reservoirs (e.g., water, air, soil, other vertebrate hosts, vectors, intermediate hosts). Through a synthesis of published literature, we reviewed the life cycles and environmental persistence of 150 parasites and pathogens tracked by the World Health Organization's Global Burden of Disease study. We used those data to derive the time spent in each component of a pathogen's life cycle, including total time spent in humans versus all environmental stages. We found that nearly all infectious organisms were “environmentally mediated” to some degree, meaning that they spend time in reservoirs and can be transmitted from those reservoirs to human hosts. Correspondingly, many infectious diseases were primarily controlled through environmental interventions (e.g., vector control, water sanitation), whereas few (14%) were primarily controlled by integrated methods (i.e., combining medical and environmental interventions). Data on critical life history attributes for most of the 150 parasites and pathogens were difficult to find and often uncertain, potentially hampering efforts to predict disease dynamics and model interactions between life cycle time scales and infection control strategies. We hope that this synthetic review and associated database serve as a resource for understanding both common patterns among parasites and pathogens and important variability and uncertainty regarding particular infectious diseases. These insights can be used to improve systems-based approaches for controlling environmentally mediated diseases of humans in an era where the environment is rapidly changing. 

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3. The influence of vector‐borne disease on human history: socio‐ecological mechanisms

   https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13675  

   Athni, Tejas_S; Shocket, Marta_S; Couper, Lisa_I; Nova, Nicole; Caldwell, Iain_R; Caldwell, Jamie_M; Childress, Jasmine_N; Childs, Marissa_L; De_Leo, Giulio_A; Kirk, Devin_G; et al (January 2021, Ecology Letters)

   Abstract Vector‐borne diseases (VBDs) are embedded within complex socio‐ecological systems. While research has traditionally focused on the direct effects of VBDs on human morbidity and mortality, it is increasingly clear that their impacts are much more pervasive. VBDs are dynamically linked to feedbacks between environmental conditions, vector ecology, disease burden, and societal responses that drive transmission. As a result, VBDs have had profound influence on human history. Mechanisms include: (1) killing or debilitating large numbers of people, with demographic and population‐level impacts; (2) differentially affecting populations based on prior history of disease exposure, immunity, and resistance; (3) being weaponised to promote or justify hierarchies of power, colonialism, racism, classism and sexism; (4) catalysing changes in ideas, institutions, infrastructure, technologies and social practices in efforts to control disease outbreaks; and (5) changing human relationships with the land and environment. We use historical and archaeological evidence interpreted through an ecological lens to illustrate how VBDs have shaped society and culture, focusing on case studies from four pertinent VBDs: plague, malaria, yellow fever and trypanosomiasis. By comparing across diseases, time periods and geographies, we highlight the enormous scope and variety of mechanisms by which VBDs have influenced human history. 

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4. A comprehensive approach to integrated one health surveillance and response

   https://doi.org/10.56367/OAG-043-10923  

   Basheer, Aseel; Jentner, Wolfgang; Kuhn, Katrin; Wimberly, Michael; Vogel, Jason; Ebert, David (January 2024, Open Access Government)

   A comprehensive approach to integrated one health surveillance and responseSurveillance data plays a crucial role in understanding and responding to emerging infectious diseases; here, we learn why adopting a One Health surveillance approach to EIDs can help to protect human, animal, and environmental health. Over 75% of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) affecting humans are zoonotic diseases with animal hosts, which can be transmitted by waterborne, foodborne, vector-borne, or air-borne pathways. (7) Early detection is important and allows for a rapid response through preventive and control measures. However, early detection of EIDs is hindered by several obstacles, such as climate change, which can alter habitats, leading to shifts in the distribution of disease- carrying vectors like mosquitoes and ticks. This can result in diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and Lyme disease becoming more common in areas with established transmission or spreading to new areas entirely. (4) Environmental changes such as deforestation and urbanization disrupt ecosystems, increasing the likelihood of zoonotic disease spillover from wildlife to humans. In addition to working at the interface of these changes, detection and tracking of EIDs also requires sharing and standardization of complex data and integrating processes across different regions and health systems. 

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5. "Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118.17 (2021).

   Keesing, Felicia (April 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)

   Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases of humans caused by pathogens that are shared between humans and other vertebrate animals. Previously, pristine natural areas with high biodiversity were seen as likely sources of new zoonotic pathogens, suggesting that biodiversity could have negative impacts on human health. At the same time, biodiversity has been recognized as potentially benefiting human health by reducing the transmission of some pathogens that have already established themselves in human populations. These apparently opposing effects of biodiversity in human health may now be reconcilable. Recent research demonstrates that some taxa are much more likely to be zoonotic hosts than others are, and that these animals often proliferate in human-dominated landscapes, increasing the likelihood of spillover. In less-disturbed areas, however, these zoonotic reservoir hosts are less abundant and nonreservoirs predominate. Thus, biodiversity loss appears to increase the risk of human exposure to both new and established zoonotic pathogens. This new synthesis of the effects of biodiversity on zoonotic diseases presents an opportunity to articulate the next generation of research questions that can inform management and policy. Future studies should focus on collecting and analyzing data on the diversity, abundance, and capacity to transmit of the taxa that actually share zoonotic pathogens with us. To predict and prevent future epidemics, researchers should also focus on how these metrics change in response to human impacts on the environment, and how human behaviors can mitigate these effects. Restoration of biodiversity is an important frontier in the management of zoonotic disease risk. 

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