{"id":28750,"date":"2025-08-22T14:22:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T14:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/?p=28750"},"modified":"2025-08-22T14:22:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T14:22:58","slug":"key-traits-identified-in-predicting-disease-emergence-in-new-populations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/key-traits-identified-in-predicting-disease-emergence-in-new-populations\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Traits Identified in Predicting Disease Emergence in New Populations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-e7eb3fc3 uagb-blockquote__skin-border uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">Researchers at Penn State and the University of Minnesota Duluth have pinpointed characteristics that can predict whether a virus will persist after spilling over to a new species. Their findings, published in PLOS Biology, could revolutionize pandemic prevention strategies.<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0dfbf163 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><div style=\"font-size:16px;\" class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\">The University Network<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share uagb-social-share__outer-wrap uagb-social-share__layout-horizontal uagb-block-ee584a31\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-ec619ce7\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"facebook\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256c0 123.8 90.69 226.4 209.3 245V327.7h-63V256h63v-54.64c0-62.15 37-96.48 93.67-96.48 27.14 0 55.52 4.84 55.52 4.84v61h-31.28c-30.8 0-40.41 19.12-40.41 38.73V256h68.78l-11 71.69h-57.78V501C413.3 482.4 504 379.8 504 256z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-32d99934\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"twitter\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M389.2 48h70.6L305.6 224.2 487 464H345L233.7 318.6 106.5 464H35.8L200.7 275.5 26.8 48H172.4L272.9 180.9 389.2 48zM364.4 421.8h39.1L151.1 88h-42L364.4 421.8z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-1d136f14\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"linkedin\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M416 32H31.9C14.3 32 0 46.5 0 64.3v383.4C0 465.5 14.3 480 31.9 480H416c17.6 0 32-14.5 32-32.3V64.3c0-17.8-14.4-32.3-32-32.3zM135.4 416H69V202.2h66.5V416zm-33.2-243c-21.3 0-38.5-17.3-38.5-38.5S80.9 96 102.2 96c21.2 0 38.5 17.3 38.5 38.5 0 21.3-17.2 38.5-38.5 38.5zm282.1 243h-66.4V312c0-24.8-.5-56.7-34.5-56.7-34.6 0-39.9 27-39.9 54.9V416h-66.4V202.2h63.7v29.2h.9c8.9-16.8 30.6-34.5 62.9-34.5 67.2 0 79.7 44.3 79.7 101.9V416z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A breakthrough study by researchers from Penn State and the University of Minnesota Duluth is shedding light on the critical early traits of pathogens that can help predict whether a virus will potentially cause a pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research, <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosbiology\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pbio.3003315\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">published<\/a> in PLOS Biology, aims to revolutionize pandemic prevention efforts by focusing on certain characteristics of viruses that spill over to new host species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior author David Kennedy, an associate professor of biology at Penn State, highlighted the challenges of current pandemic prevention strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPandemic prevention efforts largely focus on identifying the next pandemic pathogen, but that\u2019s like finding a needle in the haystack,\u201d Kennedy said in a news release. \u201cThis work helps us figure out which outbreaks to worry about so that we can direct our public health resources where they need to go to prevent and respond to disease emergence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Viral spillover events occur frequently, but not all lead to pandemics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers wanted to determine if there are measurable traits immediately following a spillover event that could predict the likelihood of the virus persisting in a new population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to know if there is anything we can measure directly after a spillover event or if there are characteristics of a spillover event that would be predictive of whether the virus would or would not persist in a new population,\u201d added lead author Clara Shaw, who was a postdoctoral scholar in biology at Penn State at the time of the research and is now an assistant professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Duluth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers utilized a worm model system to examine disease transmission at a population level. They exposed eight strains of Caenorhabditis nematodes to the Orsay virus and monitored their interactions over several generations, looking at infection rates, viral shedding and infection susceptibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They discovered that infection prevalence, viral shedding and infection susceptibility are key indicators of whether a virus will sustain itself in a new host population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Infection prevalence and viral shedding, in particular, were both significantly correlated with the persistence of the virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat means these early traits can actually tell us quite a bit about what&#8217;s going to happen way off in the future,\u201d Kennedy added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research aims to provide a new, proactive approach to prevent pandemics by focusing on early indicators rather than trying to predict which specific pathogens will become pandemics. This could enormously enhance the efficiency and impact of public health interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team plans to continue their research by exploring how pathogens adapt to new hosts at the genetic level, potentially revealing what genetic changes enable viruses to persist longer term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psu.edu\/news\/research\/story\/what-traits-matter-when-predicting-disease-emergence-new-populations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pennsylvania State University<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A breakthrough study by researchers from Penn State and the University of Minnesota Duluth is shedding light on the critical early traits of pathogens that can help predict whether a virus will potentially cause a pandemic. The research, published in PLOS Biology, aims to revolutionize pandemic prevention efforts by focusing on certain characteristics of viruses [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,25],"tags":[140,104],"class_list":["post-28750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-science","tag-penn-state-university","tag-university-of-minnesota"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"The University Network","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/author\/funky_junkie\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A breakthrough study by researchers from Penn State and the University of Minnesota Duluth is shedding light on the critical early traits of pathogens that can help predict whether a virus will potentially cause a pandemic. The research, published in PLOS Biology, aims to revolutionize pandemic prevention efforts by focusing on certain characteristics of viruses&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28750"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28771,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28750\/revisions\/28771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}