The Importance of Mammalogy, Infectious Disease Research, and Biosafety in the Field

Authors

Matthew R. Mauldin, United StatesCenters for Disease Control and PreventionFollow
Jeffrey B. Doty, United States Centers for Disease Control and PreventionFollow
Yoshinori Nakazawa, United States Centers for Disease Control and PreventionFollow
Ginny L. Emerson, United States Centers for Disease Control and PreventionFollow
Darin S. Carroll, United States Centers for Disease Control and PreventionFollow

Date of this Version

Spring 8-31-2016

Document Type

Article

Citation

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity (ISSN 2470-8224)

Occasional Papers, Number 3, August 31, 2016.

doi: 10.13014/K27P8W9Z.

Comments

This paper was part of a symposium on mammal parasite biodiversity, organized by Scott Gardner and Jorge Salazar-Bravo, “CLM20 — Zoonosis y mamíferos Neotropicales” [Zoonoses and Neotropical Mammals], presented at III Congreso Latinoamericano de Mastozoología, Bogotá D.C., Colombia, 1 al 5 de diciembre del 2015.

U. S. government work. Public domain material.

The archive of record for nomenclatural acts in this journal is the Internet Archive.

Abstract

Large amounts of data and multitudes of publications have been independently generated by researchers in mammalogy and infectious diseases. The frequent confluence of these fields in epidemiological research as well as the facility of the data generated to be used in applied methods (e.g., conservation, public outreach, public health interventions) suggests that the intersection of these fields is important not only to their committed scientists but also to other areas of investigation, including public health. Given the increased frequency with which researchers in these fields interact with potentially infected humans, animals, and tissues, their occupations present a higher risk of exposure to a variety of pathogens than those in other fields of biology or among most jobs of the general public. However, a variety of methods are available for minimizing this risk, including increasing awareness of potential risks, using medical prophylaxes (when available), properly employing personal protective equipment, and using adequate disinfectants. Although instances of serious illness from zoonotic diseases among field researchers may be uncommon, they do occur; the purpose of this document is to increase awareness of risks that researchers—principal investigators and students alike—face and highlight steps and resources that can mitigate those risks.