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Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action

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EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY AND DISEASE EMERGENCE: THE BIGPICTUREBruce WilcoxUniversity of HawaiiDept. Tropical Medic<strong>in</strong>e561 Ilalo St. BSB 320Honolulu, HI 96813bwilcox@hawaii.eduRefer to:Wilcox, BA <strong>and</strong> Colwell, RR (2005). Emerg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> Re-emerg<strong>in</strong>g Infectious<strong>Disease</strong>s: Biocomplexity as an Interdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary Paradigm, Eco<strong>Health</strong> 2: 1–14.http://www.spr<strong>in</strong>gerl<strong>in</strong>k.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/content/u318222415449460/fulltext.pdfABSTRACT: Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g factors responsible <strong>for</strong> reemergence of diseasesbelieved to have been controlled <strong>and</strong> outbreaks of previously unknown <strong>in</strong>fectiousdiseases is one of <strong>the</strong> most difficult scientific problems fac<strong>in</strong>g society today.Significant knowledge gaps exist <strong>for</strong> even <strong>the</strong> most studied emerg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fectiousdiseases. Coupled with failures <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> response to <strong>the</strong> resurgence of <strong>in</strong>fectiousdiseases, this lack of <strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>mation is embedded <strong>in</strong> a simplistic view of pathogens <strong>and</strong>disconnected from a social <strong>and</strong> ecological context, <strong>and</strong> assumes a l<strong>in</strong>ear response ofpathogens to environmental change. In fact, <strong>the</strong> natural reservoirs <strong>and</strong> transmissionrates of most emerg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fectious diseases primarily are affected by environmentalfactors, such as seasonality or meteorological events, typically produc<strong>in</strong>g nonl<strong>in</strong>earresponses that are <strong>in</strong>herently unpredictable. A more realistic view of emerg<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>fectious diseases requires a holistic perspective that <strong>in</strong>corporates social as well asphysical, chemical, <strong>and</strong> biological dimensions of our planet’s systems. The notion ofbiocomplexity captures this depth <strong>and</strong> richness, <strong>and</strong> most importantly, <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>teractionsof human <strong>and</strong> natural systems. This article provides a brief review <strong>and</strong> a syn<strong>the</strong>sis of<strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary approaches <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>sights employ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> biocomplexity paradigm <strong>and</strong>offers a social–ecological approach <strong>for</strong> address<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> garner<strong>in</strong>g an improvedunderst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g of emerg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fectious diseases. Draw<strong>in</strong>g on f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs from studies ofcholera <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r examples of emerg<strong>in</strong>g waterborne, zoonotic, <strong>and</strong> vectorbornediseases, a ‘‘bluepr<strong>in</strong>t’’ <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> proposed <strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary research framework isoffered which <strong>in</strong>tegrates biological processes from <strong>the</strong> molecular level to that ofcommunities <strong>and</strong> regional systems, <strong>in</strong>corporat<strong>in</strong>g public health <strong>in</strong>frastructure <strong>and</strong>climate aspects.244

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