Despite remarkable advances in treatment and prevention, infectious diseases remain amongst the leading causes of death worldwide, particularly in the developing world, and drug resistant pathogens are ominously on the rise. By way of one specific example, the global incidence of human tuberculosis (TB) disease—caused by infection with the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis—is estimated to be ...

The morphological, ecological, and clinical diversity among ascomycete fungi that are pathogenic to humans suggest that the potential for pathogenicity may have arisen multiple times within these higher fungi. We have obtained 18S ribosomal DNA sequences from a diverse group of human pathogenic fungi in order to determine their evolutionary origins. The fungi studied include a skin pathogen tha...

Bacterial, viral and parasitic zoonotic pathogens that transmit via the fecal-oral route have a major impact on global health. However, the mechanisms underlying the emergence of such pathogens from the animal reservoir and their persistence in the human population are poorly understood. Here, we present a framework of human-to-human transmission of zoonotic pathogens that considers the factors...

Although sporadic human infection due to Burkholderia cepacia has been reported for many years, it has been only during the past few decades that species within the B. cepacia complex have emerged as significant opportunistic human pathogens. Individuals with cystic fibrosis, the most common inherited genetic disease in Caucasian populations, or chronic granulomatous disease, a primary immunode...

Resident populations of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and ducks have increased to high numbers, particularly in urban and suburban areas, throughout the United States and in other countries. The earliest complaints related to expanding goose populations, from the 1940's to the 1970's, were mainly damage to crops in populations of Canada geese using urban and suburban areas increased as did t...

We propose a system for continuing surveillance of viral pathogens circulating in large human populations. We base this system on the physical isolation of viruses from large pooled samples of human serum and plasma (e.g., discarded specimens from diagnostic laboratories), followed by shotgun sequencing of the resulting genomes. The technology for concentrating virions from 100-L volumes was de...

Introduction: Aloe Vera compounds have inhibitory activity on fungi, bacteria, and viruses. This study examines the antibacterial activity of A. Vera purified extracts including gel, boiled skin, boiled gel, and distilled extract against pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were elucidated. Method: Th...

The introduction of nonnative oysters (i.e., Crassostrea ariakensis) into the Chesapeake Bay has been proposed as necessary for the restoration of the oyster industry; however, nothing is known about the public health risks related to contamination of these oysters with human pathogens. Commercial market-size C. ariakensis triploids were maintained in large marine tanks with water of low (8-ppt...

BACKGROUND Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis are bacterial pathogens that can cause anthrax, lethal acute pneumonic disease, and bubonic plague, respectively, and are listed as NIAID Category A priority pathogens for possible use as biological weapons. However, the interactions between human proteins and proteins in these bacteria remain poorly characterized leadin...

The application of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology in the diagnosis of human pathogens is hindered by the fact that pathogenic sequences, especially viral, are often scarce in human clinical specimens. This known disproportion leads to the requirement of subsequent deep sequencing and extensive bioinformatics analysis. Here we report a method we called "Preferential Amplification of...