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Dr. Greger's Pandemic Update: December 2007

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At a Washington news briefing this month, David Nabarro, senior coordinator
for avian and human influenza at the United Nations, acknowledged the global
threats posed by war and climate change, but reportedly insisted that the
biggest danger humankind faces today may be emerging infectious disease.
"It's microbes," he said, "particularly microbes that come from the animal
kingdom, that represent one of the greatest threats to humanity and
certainly even to its survival as we know it."

His comments are timely. I'm pleased to let you know that an extensive
review of mine was published last month in "Critical Reviews in
Microbiology," entitled The Human/Animal Interface: Emergence and Resurgence
of Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. In the article, I explore the root causes
for the recent torrent of animal-to-human disease such as HIV/AIDS that have
been plaguing humanity over the last few decades. The bulk of the review
concentrates on the disease with likely the greatest contemporary
destructive potential, pandemic influenza.

In the CRM article, I was able to go into much greater scientific detail
than I could when writing my book "Bird Flu" as to the evolutionary
biological theory that underlies my thesis that the global intensification
of poultry production is leading to the unprecedented emergence of influenza
viruses highly pathogenic to both birds and humans alike.

Due to copyright restrictions set by the publisher, I am unable to publicly
post or distribute the article until a year from publication, but I am
allowed to send full-text reprints to anyone who requests them. So if you'd
like a copy, simply email me at m...@cornell.edu, I'd be happy to send you
one.

Another article of mine was published in the biodefense journal "Biosecurity
and Bioterrorism" this month, exploring the public health and national
security implications of long distance live animal transport. This is also
extremely timely given the just reported emergence of a new influenza virus
in Missouri pigs, an apparently mammalian-adapted H2N3 bird/pig hybrid virus
[Ma W, et al. Identification of H2N3 influenza A viruses from swine in the
United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci Dec 26, 2007;104(52):20949-54]. I discuss
the role that cross-country pig transport has played in the rapid
dissemination of such viruses and would be happy to send myother new article
to those interested as well.

I wish everyone a healthy, happy new year!