Virions are one kind of nanoscale pathogen and are able to infect living cells of animals, plants, and bacteria. The infection is an intrinsic property of the virions, and the biological process provides a good model for studying how these…
The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, a newly identified pathogen, causes severe pneumonia in humans. MERS is caused by a coronavirus known as MERS-CoV, which attacks the respiratory system. The recently defined receptor for…
As of January 2016, 1,633 laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection and 587 MERS-related deaths have been reported by the World Health Organization globally. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome…
Estimating the case fatality ratio (CFR) of a novel strain of influenza virus during the early stage of the pandemic is one of key epidemiological tasks to be conducted as rapid research response. Past experience during the epidemics of severe acute…
Globalization causes high mobility of human and livestock, hence increase the transmission of infectious diseases, including avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and swine influenza. Therefore, prevention of those diseases is…
Contact history is crucial during an infectious disease outbreak and vital when seeking to understand and predict the spread of infectious diseases in human populations. The transmission connectivity networks of people infected with highly contagious…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States of America recently issued a set of guidelines on how different community health services should prepare for and respond to the reemergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome…