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Emerging Pathogens: Something Old, Something New

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Sara E. Miller  and
David N. Howell
Sara E. Miller
Affiliation:
Departments of Microbiology and Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710
David N. Howell
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710and , Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27705.
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Abstract

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide and the third leading cause in the US. Among these maladies are many that can be classified as emerging diseases. Some of these disorders may be caused by truly novel pathogens. in others, the causative organisms have been present for many years (for some, probably millennia), but have escaped detection until recently. Still others represent the re-emergence of known pathogenic organisms after a long period of quiescence. The mention of emerging pathogens brings to mind sensational exotic and feared microorganisms such as Ebola virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hantavirus, West Nile virus, Yersinia pestis (plague), and prion diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE, “mad cow” disease) which have been associated with variant Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. However, other organisms that have been known for some time can be classified as emerging pathogens as they continually mutate, recombine, and adapt, causing misery and death.

Type
Emerging Pathogens: Something Old, Something New (Organized By S. Miller and D. Howell)
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 7 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2001, Microscopy Society of America 59th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 35th Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California August 5-9, 2001 , August 2001 , pp. 164 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2001

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