Guarding against the most dangerous emerging pathogens
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Updated: Nov 3, 2026

Safety Precautions and Operating Procedures in an (A)BSL-4 Laboratory: 3. Aerobiology
Published on: October 3, 2016
1Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002-5000, USA. pwewald@amherst.edu
Abstract:
Control of emerging infectious diseases will be difficult because of the large number of disease-causing organisms that are emerging or could emerge and the great diversity of geographic areas in which emergence can occur. The modern view of the evolution of pathogen virulence--specifically its focus on the tradeoff between costs and benefits to the pathogen from increased host exploitation--allows control programs to identify and focus on the most dangerous pathogens (those that can be established with high virulence in human populations).
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