Key Laboratory of Etiology and Epidemiology of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Universities of Shandong (Taishan Medical College), Taishan Medical College, Taian, 271000, China.
National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), Beijing, 102206, China.
Sci China Life Sci. 2017 Dec;60(12):1317-1330. doi: 10.1007/s11427-017-9211-0. Epub 2017 Nov 28.
In the past twenty years, numerous novel zoonotic viral agents with pandemic potential have emerged in China, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and, more recently, the avian-origin influenza A/H7N9 virus, which have caused outbreaks among humans with high morbidity and mortality. In addition, several emerging and re-emerging viral pathogens have also been imported into China from travelers, e.g. the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and Zika virus (ZIKV). Herein, we review these emerging viral pathogens in China and focus on how surveillance by pathogen genomics has been employed to discover and annotate novel pathogenic agents, identify natural reservoirs, monitor the transmission events and delineate their evolution and adaption to the human host. We also highlight the application of genomic sequencing in the recent Ebola epidemics in Western Africa. In summary, genomic sequencing has become a standard research tool in the field of emerging infectious diseases which has been proven invaluable in containing these viral infections and reducing burden of disease in humans and animals. Genomic surveillance of pathogenic agents will serve as a key epidemiological and research tool in the modern era of precision infectious diseases and in the future studies of virosphere.
在过去的二十年中，中国出现了许多具有大流行潜力的新型人畜共患病病毒，如严重急性呼吸系统综合征（SARS）冠状病毒，以及最近的禽源甲型流感病毒 H7N9，这些病毒导致了高发病率和死亡率的人类感染。此外，还有一些新出现和重新出现的病毒病原体也从旅行者中传入中国，如中东呼吸综合征（MERS）冠状病毒和寨卡病毒（ZIKV）。在此，我们对中国的这些新发病毒病原体进行综述，并重点介绍病原体基因组学监测如何用于发现和注释新的致病因子，鉴定自然宿主，监测传播事件，并描绘其对人类宿主的进化和适应。我们还强调了基因组测序在最近西非埃博拉疫情中的应用。总之，基因组测序已成为新发传染病领域的标准研究工具，在控制这些病毒感染和减轻人类和动物疾病负担方面发挥了重要作用。对病原体的基因组监测将成为精准传染病时代的关键流行病学和研究工具，并将在未来的病毒学研究中发挥重要作用。
