Browsing by Author "Boots, Michael"

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    The Role of Vector Trait Variation in Vector-Borne Disease Dynamics
    Cator, Lauren J.; Johnson, Leah R.; Mordecai, Erin A.; El Moustaid, Fadoua; Smallwood, Thomas R. C.; LaDeau, Shannon L.; Johansson, Michael A.; Hudson, Peter J.; Boots, Michael; Thomas, Matthew B.; Power, Alison G.; Pawar, Samraat (2020-07-10)
    Many important endemic and emerging diseases are transmitted by vectors that are biting arthropods. The functional traits of vectors can affect pathogen transmission rates directly and also through their effect on vector population dynamics. Increasing empirical evidence shows that vector traits vary significantly across individuals, populations, and environmental conditions, and at time scales relevant to disease transmission dynamics. Here, we review empirical evidence for variation in vector traits and how this trait variation is currently incorporated into mathematical models of vector-borne disease transmission. We argue that mechanistically incorporating trait variation into these models, by explicitly capturing its effects on vector fitness and abundance, can improve the reliability of their predictions in a changing world. We provide a conceptual framework for incorporating trait variation into vector-borne disease transmission models, and highlight key empirical and theoretical challenges. This framework provides a means to conceptualize how traits can be incorporated in vector borne disease systems, and identifies key areas in which trait variation can be explored. Determining when and to what extent it is important to incorporate trait variation into vector borne disease models remains an important, outstanding question.
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    Synergistic China-US Ecological Research is Essential for Global Emerging Infectious Disease Preparedness
    Smiley Evans, Tierra; Shi, Zhengli; Boots, Michael; Liu, Wenjun; Olival, Kevin J.; Xiao, Xiangming; VandeWoude, Sue; Brown, Heidi E.; Chen, Ji-Long; Civitello, David J.; Escobar, Luis E.; Grohn, Yrjo; Li, Hongying; Lips, Karen; Liu, Qiyoung; Lu, Jiahai; Martinez-Lopez, Beatriz; Shi, Jishu; Shi, Xiaolu; Xu, Biao; Yuan, Lihong; Zhu, Guoqiang; Getz, Wayne M. (Springer, 2020-02-03)
    The risk of a zoonotic pandemic disease threatens hundreds of millions of people. Emerging infectious diseases also threaten livestock and wildlife populations around the world and can lead to devastating economic damages. China and the USA—due to their unparalleled resources, widespread engagement in activities driving emerging infectious diseases and national as well as geopolitical imperatives to contribute to global health security—play an essential role in our understanding of pandemic threats. Critical to efforts to mitigate risk is building upon existing investments in global capacity to develop training and research focused on the ecological factors driving infectious disease spillover from animals to humans. International cooperation, particularly between China and the USA, is essential to fully engage the resources and scientific strengths necessary to add this ecological emphasis to the pandemic preparedness strategy. Here, we review the world’s current state of emerging infectious disease preparedness, the ecological and evolutionary knowledge needed to anticipate disease emergence, the roles that China and the USA currently play as sources and solutions to mitigating risk, and the next steps needed to better protect the global community from zoonotic disease.