Infectious Disease Transmission Pathways Illustration

Illustration showing examples of infectious disease transmission pathways. This illustration is a higher resolution version of figure 5 of USGS Circular 1383-E.

The illustration visually conveys the following environmental health priority topics of study:

• Environmental factors that influence the occurrence and control the distribution, severity, and dynamics of wildlife diseases affecting free-ranging populations, and consequently, people and domesticated animals.

• Environmental factors that drive the evolution of pathogens affecting aquatic and terrestrial species.

• The ways that infectious diseases impact the health or recovery of threatened and endangered species, as well as the natural functioning of ecosystems.

• The pathways, risk factors, and potential control strategies that affect transmission of diseases from aquatic and terrestrial wildlife reservoirs to agriculture and aquaculture, and vice versa.

• The exposure pathways, risk factors, and potential control strategies that affect transmission of infectious agents between wildlife and humans.