A framework for the study of zoonotic disease emergence and its drivers: spillover of bat pathogens as a case study

Wood, James L. N.; Leach, Melissa; Waldman, Linda; MacGregor, Hayley; Fooks, Anthony R.; Jones, Kate E.; Restif, Olivier; Dechmann, Dina; Hayman, David T. S.; Baker, Kate S.; Peel, Alison J.; Kamins, Alexandra O.; Fahr, Jakob; Ntiamoa-Baidu, Yaa; Suu-Ire, Richard; Breiman, Robert F.; Epstein, Jonathan H.; Field, Hume E.; Cunningham, Andrew A.

Work needs to be organized from the outset in a manner that both recognizes and respects individual disciplinary approaches, but that also cuts across them in a truly interdisciplinary manner in order to deliver genuine integration, both between disciplines and across localities. Although frequently ignored in the natural sciences, we propose a clear interdisciplinary conceptual framework (as is more common in interdisciplinary social science work, such as development studies) to capture the integration across all scales that is required (figure 1). Our framework integrates dynamic interactions between bats, viruses, intermediate livestock hosts and people in a local system, influenced by wider environmental, social and politico-economic drivers. Figure 1 is inspired by a range of research fields, drawing together perspectives from medical and veterinary (virology, epidemiology, public health), environmental (ecology, biodiversity) and social (anthropology, politics, science-policy studies) sciences. Each key element of the framework comprises a potential research theme within which specific questions can be investigated; importantly, novel insights and policy impacts should be derived from their integration.