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Related Concept Videos

Reservoir of Infection01:30

Reservoir of Infection

Infectious diseases arise from intricate interactions between pathogens and their reservoirs. A reservoir of infection refers to the natural habitat where a pathogen lives, grows, and multiplies, serving as a continual source of infection. Reservoirs are broadly classified as either living or nonliving, and each plays a unique role in disease transmission, significantly influencing public health interventions and control strategies.Humans act as reservoirs for a wide array of pathogens,...
Colonisation of Pathogens01:25

Colonisation of Pathogens

Pathogen colonization of host tissues is a critical step in the development of infectious diseases. Various pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa, have evolved complex strategies to attach to, invade, and persist within host environments. These mechanisms enable pathogens to establish infections, evade immune responses, and resist antimicrobial treatments.Attachment to Host CellsIn bacteria, colonization typically begins with adherence to host epithelial...
Factors Affecting the Risk of Infection01:26

Factors Affecting the Risk of Infection

The hosts' susceptibility to infection depends on several factors. The integrity of the skin and mucous membranes helps protect the body against microbial attacks. When the skin is altered, the chance of infection, limb loss, and even death increases.
The integrity and count of the white blood cells help the body resist pathogens and fight infection. When impaired, it reduces the body's resistance to pathogens. The acidic pH levels of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary tracts, and skin create...
Malaria01:29

Malaria

Malaria pathogenesis in humans reflects a delicate interplay between parasite biology and host response. Clinical illness reflects a host’s immune response to the parasite’s asexual replication cycle, which is often asymptomatic in individuals with partial immunity. From the parasite's perspective, transmission between mosquito and human with minimal host pathology is evolutionarily advantageous. Among the six Plasmodium species infecting humans, P. falciparum and P. vivax dominate in global...
Infection01:20

Infection

When a pathogen enters the body and reproduces, it can cause an infection, damage body cells, and cause illness symptoms that eventually lead to disease. Therefore, its prevention requires breaking the chain of infection.
The chain begins with pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, or parasites such as protozoa helminths. These can be present on the skin as transient or resident flora, or they can be acquired from the environment. Identifying and treating the type of infection and...
Transmission of Pathogens01:24

Transmission of Pathogens

Pathogens spread from their reservoirs to susceptible hosts through three main routes: contact transmission, vehicle transmission, and vector transmission. Each route involves distinct mechanisms of transfer.Contact TransmissionThis category includes direct contact, indirect contact, and droplet transmission:Direct contact involves immediate physical interaction between individuals—such as a handshake—which can spread pathogens like Streptococcus pyogenes, the bacterium responsible for...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Using a Bacterial Pathogen to Probe for Cellular and Organismic-level Host Responses
08:38

Using a Bacterial Pathogen to Probe for Cellular and Organismic-level Host Responses

Published on: February 22, 2019

Host physiological phenotype explains pathogen reservoir potential.

James Patrick Cronin1, Miranda E Welsh, Martin G Dekkers

  • 1Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. jpatrickcronin@gmail.com

Ecology Letters
|July 13, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Identifying pathogen reservoirs is key to controlling infectious diseases. This study found that a host's physiological traits, not lifespan or origin, determine its potential to harbor and spread diseases.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Epidemiology
  • Pathogen dynamics

Background:

  • Emerging infectious diseases require identification of pathogen reservoirs for control.
  • Host factors like lifespan, origin, and phylogeny are thought to influence reservoir potential.
  • No prior study has causally identified factors determining reservoir potential across diverse host species.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the host physiological phenotype hypothesis, predicting that physiological traits influence reservoir potential.
  • To determine if host physiological phenotype, lifespan, origin, or phylogeny best explains variation in epidemiological parameters.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental testing using a generalist vectored virus and six wild grass species.
  • Assessing host susceptibility to infection, competence to infect vectors, and ability to support vector populations.
  • Comparing the explanatory power of host physiological phenotype versus lifespan, provenance, and phylogeny.

Main Results:

  • Host physiological phenotype significantly explained variation in all three epidemiological parameters.
  • Lifespan, geographic provenance, and phylogeny could not explain host competence.
  • A unified axis of host physiological phenotype appears to predict reservoir potential.

Conclusions:

  • Host physiological phenotype is a primary determinant of pathogen reservoir potential.
  • This finding offers a generalizable framework for understanding and predicting disease transmission dynamics.
  • Focusing on physiological traits can improve strategies for managing emerging infectious diseases.