The Art of Infection

Figure courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention      This week's post is going to stray just a bit from the standard in that I won't be discussing a specific disease. Rather, I am writing this week on a collaborative approach known by people in the field as One Health. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) defines this concept as "...the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines-working locally, nationally, and globally-to attain optimal health for people, animals, and our environment." In my opinion, this is a rather vague definition (this is from a formal report by the AVMA discussing one health) and I much prefer the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's definition which is much more narrowed down. The CDC defines One Health as a concept "...that recognizes that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment. It is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach wi...

     Surely you've seen a little fellow like this buzzing around your yard or garden. If you're especially lucky, you'll see those beautiful pollen baskets on their legs stuffed full of orange or yellow pollen! This is a honeybee, responsible for over 90% of commercial pollination across open land (Fünfhaus et al., 2018). Think of that number for a moment...the Western honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) is responsible for over 90% of pollination that occurs on the open landscape. The sad thing is that honeybees are at risk, there have been reports on large-scale honey bee colony losses (Fünfhaus et al., 2018).      One of the greatest risks currently presented to honey bee colonies is a bacterial infection called American Foulbrood (or AFB). This disease is a nasty little bacterium called Paenibacillus larvae , rightly named because it attacks the larvae of honey bees while they're still growing in their cells. It is considered to be the best studied and most...