PNAS Science Sessions

How pathogen stowaways traversed the oceans

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Jamie Lloyd-Smith and Elizabeth Blackmore describe how they modeled the epidemiology of pathogens on ocean voyages.

In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction
•[01:04] Integrative scientist Jamie Lloyd-Smith and disease ecologist Elizabeth Blackmore describe how they came to study the epidemiology of ocean travel.
•[03:21] Blackmore and Lloyd-Smith explain why they focused on three pathogens: influenza, measles, and smallpox.
•[04:13] Lloyd-Smith explains the results of the disease model, with pathogen biology, passenger number, and journey length factoring into the duration of shipboard outbreaks.
•[05:05] Blackmore details the additional insights provided by newspaper records of ship arrivals in 1850s San Francisco.
•[06:57] Lloyd-Smith and Blackmore talk about the caveats and limitations of the study.
•[08:02] Blackmore and Lloyd-Smith explore potential next steps.
•[09:47] Conclusion.

About Our Guests:

Jamie Lloyd-Smith
Professor
University of California, Los Angeles

Elizabeth Blackmore
Doctoral student
Yale University

View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2400425121

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