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| Open AccessA randomized controlled trial testing a virtual program for Asian American women breast cancer survivors
Virtual support methods have been shown to be an effective aid in cancer survivorship. Here, the authors created a culturally tailored information and support system for Asian American breast cancer patients and showed these resources improved quality of life.
- Eun-Ok Im
- , Wonshik Chee
- & Jun J. Mao
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Article
| Open AccessSARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in wastewater as a model for monitoring evolution of endemic viruses
SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance could provide an important means of monitoring population trends as clinical testing decreases. Here, the authors demonstrate the use of wastewater to track variants of concern through a sentinel wastewater surveillance system in South Africa.
- Mukhlid Yousif
- , Said Rachida
- & Kerrigan McCarthy
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Article
| Open AccessThe Personalized Nutrition Study (POINTS): evaluation of a genetically informed weight loss approach, a Randomized Clinical Trial
Genotype patterns may modify diet effects on weight loss, with greater weight loss on genotype-concordant diets. Here, the authors show that with the current ability to genotype participants as fat- or carbohydrate-responders, evidence does not support greater weight loss on genotype-concordant diets.
- Christoph Höchsmann
- , Shengping Yang
- & Corby K. Martin
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Article
| Open AccessImproving model fairness in image-based computer-aided diagnosis
Deep learning models can reflect and amplify human bias, potentially resulting inaccurate missed diagnoses. Here, the authors show that by leveraging the marginal pairwise equal opportunity, their model reduces bias in medical image classification by over 35% compared to baseline models, with minimal impact on AUC values.
- Mingquan Lin
- , Tianhao Li
- & Yifan Peng
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Article
| Open AccessViral kinetics of sequential SARS-CoV-2 infections
In this study, the authors compare the viral kinetics of first and second SARS-CoV-2 infections using data from an occupational surveillance scheme in the National Basketball League. They find that second infections tend to have a faster clearance time, and that clearance times in first and second infections were positively correlated.
- Stephen M. Kissler
- , James A. Hay
- & Yonatan H. Grad
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Article
| Open AccessCost-effectiveness requirements for implementing artificial intelligence technology in the Women’s UK Breast Cancer Screening service
AI technology has the potential to substitute a human reader to aid services struggling to recruit staff or meet patient demand. Here, the authors show that the technology is a viable and potentially cost-effective strategy for use in the NHS.
- Armando Vargas-Palacios
- , Nisha Sharma
- & Gurdeep S. Sagoo
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Review Article
| Open AccessThe promise of data science for health research in Africa
In this Review article, the authors discuss emerging efforts to build ethical governance frameworks for data science health research in Africa and the opportunities to advance these through investments by African governments and institutions, international funding organizations and collaborations for research and capacity development.
- Clement A. Adebamowo
- , Shawneequa Callier
- & Sally N. Adebamowo
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Article
| Open AccessDisentangling age, gender, and racial/ethnic disparities in multiple myeloma burden: a modeling study
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a haematological malignancy that is preceded by monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Here, the authors use a mechanistic model fitted to surveillance data from the United States to investigate whether variation in MM is best explained by incidence of MGUS or rate of progression to MM.
- John H. Huber
- , Mengmeng Ji
- & Su-Hsin Chang
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Article
| Open AccessmRNA-1273 bivalent (original and Omicron) COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 outcomes in the United States
Bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been developed to provide broader protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants. In this cohort study based on electronic health records from the United States, the authors estimate the effectiveness of bivalent, compared to monovalent, vaccines and no vaccination against a range of COVID-19-related outcomes.
- Hung Fu Tseng
- , Bradley K. Ackerson
- & Lei Qian
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Article
| Open AccessBreastfeeding and impact on childhood hospital admissions: a nationwide birth cohort in South Korea
Benefits of breastfeeding are well established, but a comprehensive study about its impacts on hospitalizations is lacking. Here, the authors use Korean nationwide birth cohort data (n = 1,608,540) and find that breastfeeding for at least 6 months was associated with a lower risk for subsequent hospital admissions.
- Jeong-Seon Lee
- , Jae Il Shin
- & Dong Keon Yon
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Article
| Open AccessA comparative study of postnatal anthropometric growth in very preterm infants and intrauterine growth
The majority of growth references for preterm infants were assumed to reflect intrauterine growth. Here, the authors identify postnatal growth patterns of very preterm infants that are distinctly different than intrauterine growth.
- Fu-Sheng Chou
- , Hung-Wen Yeh
- & Reese H. Clark
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Comment
| Open AccessZoonotic malaria requires new policy approaches to malaria elimination
WHO guidelines for classification of malaria elimination in a country require that the risk of human infection from zoonotic, as well as nonzoonotic, malaria parasites is negligible. In this Comment, the authors discuss the implications of this policy for countries, such as Malaysia, with no recent reported nonzoonotic cases but ongoing zoonotic transmission.
- Kimberly M. Fornace
- , Chris J. Drakeley
- & Kamruddin Ahmed
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Article
| Open AccessFood inflation and child undernutrition in low and middle income countries
The 21st Century has witnessed a series of global food crises, though little is known about how rising food prices affect child nutrition. The authors show that increases in the real price of food elevate the risk of a child being wasted, which in turn poses a serious risk for their survival.
- Derek Headey
- & Marie Ruel
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Article
| Open AccessEstimating the burden of severe malarial anaemia and access to hospital care in East Africa
Severe malarial anaemia is a clinical manifestation of severe malaria, with the burden highly concentrated in children. In this work, authors statistically model household survey and in-hospital data to estimate the proportion of severe malarial anaemia cases that access hospital care.
- Peter Winskill
- , Aggrey Dhabangi
- & Lucy C. Okell
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Article
| Open AccessQuantifying the causal impact of biological risk factors on healthcare costs
Understanding the causal impact that risk factors have on healthcare cost is critical to evaluate healthcare interventions. Here, authors show that waist circumference, body mass index, and blood pressure have robust causal impact on healthcare cost.
- Jiwoo Lee
- , Sakari Jukarainen
- & Andrea Ganna
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Article
| Open AccessNon-invasive assessment of normal and impaired iron homeostasis in the brain
Assessment of different iron compounds in the living brain remains an open challenge. Here, the authors present a magnetic resonance imaging method which is sensitive to the iron homeostasis in the brain, and increases the detection of tumor tissue.
- Shir Filo
- , Rona Shaharabani
- & Aviv A. Mezer
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Article
| Open AccessPrevious immunity shapes immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination and Omicron breakthrough infection risk
In this study, the authors investigate immune responses following a third (booster) SARS-CoV-2 vaccination dose in a cohort of healthcare professionals in Denmark. They find stronger immune responses among those with a prior infection, and correlation between lower antibody responses and higher risk of subsequent breakthrough infection.
- Laura Pérez-Alós
- , Cecilie Bo Hansen
- & Peter Garred
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Article
| Open AccessBenefit-cost analysis of coordinated strategies for control of rabies in Africa
Control of rabies in Africa through mass vaccination of dogs may be compromised by cross-border transmission. Here, the authors use mathematical modelling and a benefit-cost analysis to demonstrate that coordinating rabies control measures across borders could lead to the elimination of dog rabies in Africa.
- A. Bucher
- , A. Dimov
- & J. Zinsstag
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Article
| Open AccessHighly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) in marine mammals and seabirds in Peru
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A/H5N1 has recently emerged in the Americas and has been implicated in mass die-off events of pelicans and sea lions. Here, the authors report sampling and characterisation of HPAI A/H5N1 genomes from five marine mammal and seabird species in Peru.
- Mariana Leguia
- , Alejandra Garcia-Glaessner
- & Jesus Lescano
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Article
| Open AccessMining multi-center heterogeneous medical data with distributed synthetic learning
Here the authors present Distributed Synthetic Learning, a system that addresses data privacy, isolated data islands, and heterogeneity concerns in healthcare analytics by learning to generate state-of-the-art synthetic data for downstream tasks.
- Qi Chang
- , Zhennan Yan
- & Dimitris N. Metaxas
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Article
| Open AccessEffect of SARS-CoV-2 prior infection and mRNA vaccination on contagiousness and susceptibility to infection
It is unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 immunity decreases transmission through reduction in contagiousness of cases or susceptibility of contacts. Here, the authors use testing and contact data from Geneva, Switzerland and find that increased protection of contacts was the main driver of reduced transmission.
- Denis Mongin
- , Nils Bürgisser
- & Delphine Sophie Courvoisier
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Article
| Open AccessMetagenomic sequencing of post-mortem tissue samples for the identification of pathogens associated with neonatal deaths
Rapid identification of pathogens in neonatal infection, and corresponding antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, would improve patient outcomes and assist in antibiotic stewardship. In this work, the authors utilize metagenomic next-generation sequencing of post-mortem tissue samples to identify pathogens associated with neonatal deaths.
- Vicky L. Baillie
- , Shabir A. Madhi
- & Courtney P. Olwagen
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Article
| Open AccessEffects of public-health measures for zeroing out different SARS-CoV-2 variants
China maintained a ‘zero-COVID’ policy from early in the pandemic until late 2022 that employed various public health interventions with the aim of COVID-19 containment. Here, the authors use data from 131 outbreaks in China to estimate the effects of a range of interventions against different SARS-CoV-2 variants in diverse settings.
- Yong Ge
- , Xilin Wu
- & Shengjie Lai
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Article
| Open AccessAccelerated evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in free-ranging white-tailed deer
White-tailed deer are an important reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA and continued monitoring of the virus in deer populations is needed. In this genomic epidemiology study from Ohio, the authors show that the virus has been introduced multiple times to deer from humans, and that it has evolved faster in deer.
- Dillon S. McBride
- , Sofya K. Garushyants
- & Andrew S. Bowman
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Article
| Open AccessThe challenge of population aging for mitigating deaths from PM2.5 air pollution in China
Estimating health burden of air pollution against the background of population aging is of significance for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3.9. Here, the authors show that population aging is expected to be the leading contributor to increased deaths attributable to PM2.5 in China by 2035, which will counter the positive gains achieved by improvements in air pollution and healthcare.
- Fangjin Xu
- , Qingxu Huang
- & Brett A. Bryan
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Article
| Open AccessGabapentinoid consumption in 65 countries and regions from 2008 to 2018: a longitudinal trend study
With their misuse potential, there is a need to understand the global consumption of gabapentinoids. Here, authors show a + 17.20% worldwide average annual increase in consumption of gabapentinoids from 2008 to 2018.
- Adrienne Y. L. Chan
- , Andrew S. C. Yuen
- & Kenneth K. C. Man
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: The pitfalls of interpreting hyperintense FLAIR signal as lymph outside the human brain
- Mehmet Sait Albayram
- , Garrett Smith
- & Onder Albayram
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Article
| Open AccessAAV-mediated base-editing therapy ameliorates the disease phenotypes in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa
Base editing technology has great potential in treating pathogenic single-nucleotide variations. Using a dual-AAV base editing system, Wu et al. restored visual functions in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa.
- Yidong Wu
- , Xiaoling Wan
- & Xueli Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessBone marrow adiposity modulation after long duration spaceflight in astronauts
Bone marrow adiposity is linked to disease, and it is unknown how it is modulated during space travel. Here, the authors show that astronauts returning from ISS missions had decreased marrow fat and increased hematopoiesis and bone formation, suggesting that adipose reserves in the bone marrow might be used as an energy source to counteract anemia and bone loss associated with space flight.
- Tammy Liu
- , Gerd Melkus
- & Guy Trudel
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Editorial
| Open AccessPromoting the science of One Health
One Health refers to the interconnectedness of the health of humans, animals, and the environment. It recognises that coordination across sectors is needed for effective prevention, detection, and management of infectious disease threats. Although the concept of One Health is not new, it has gained increased prominence following the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting national and international institutions to adopt One Health policies aimed at preventing disease spillover
1 –4 . At Nature Communications, we have launched a Collection and call for papers in recognition of the need for better scientific evidence to support One Health policy ambitions. -
Article
| Open AccessIdentification of scaffold proteins for improved endogenous engineering of extracellular vesicles
Extracellular vesicles are naturally occurring nanoparticles that are gaining ground as delivery modalities for therapeutics. Here, the authors conducted a large-scale screening programme to identify potential scaffold proteins for cargo loading into extracellular vesicles.
- Wenyi Zheng
- , Julia Rädler
- & Samir EL Andaloussi
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Article
| Open AccessPreventing antimalarial drug resistance with triple artemisinin-based combination therapies
Triple artemisinin-based combination therapies have shown high efficacy for treatment of malaria in preliminary studies. Here, the authors use mathematical modelling to assess whether these therapies could also delay the emergence and spread of antimalarial drug resistance when compared against frontline therapies.
- Tran Dang Nguyen
- , Bo Gao
- & Ricardo Aguas
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Article
| Open AccessA small area model to assess temporal trends and sub-national disparities in healthcare quality
Here, authors present an approach to assess subnational healthcare quality, leveraging health facility survey data. The method jointly estimates indicators over space and time, and may provide insights to decision-makers and health service program managers.
- Adrien Allorant
- , Nancy Fullman
- & Robert C. Reiner Jr
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Article
| Open AccessWastewater-based epidemiology predicts COVID-19-induced weekly new hospital admissions in over 150 USA counties
Wastewater-based epidemiology is increasingly used to predict disease occurrence. Here, the authors use SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in wastewater in machine learning models to predict COVID-19 related hospitalisation in the United States.
- Xuan Li
- , Huan Liu
- & Qilin Wang
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Article
| Open AccessKnowledge-enhanced visual-language pre-training on chest radiology images
Despite the success of multi-modal foundation models in natural language and vision tasks, their use in medical domains is limited. Here, the authors propose to train a foundation model for chest X-ray diagnosis that combines medical domain knowledge with vision-language representation learning.
- Xiaoman Zhang
- , Chaoyi Wu
- & Yanfeng Wang
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Article
| Open AccessEstimating long-term vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 variants: a model-based approach
Evaluation of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines is increasingly challenging due to high levels of exposure to infection and vaccination. Here, the authors use a model-based approach incorporating these factors and estimate that using a variant-matched rather than ancestral booster could prevent nearly twice as many hospitalisations and deaths over one year.
- Alexandra B. Hogan
- , Patrick Doohan
- & Azra C. Ghani
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Article
| Open AccessMolecular and phenotypic characteristics of RSV infections in infants during two nirsevimab randomized clinical trials
Nirsevimab binds the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion protein and has been tested for RSV prevention in clinical trials. Here, the authors analyse RSV from infections and show that binding site substitutions are rare and that over 99% of isolates remain susceptible to nirsevimab.
- Bahar Ahani
- , Kevin M. Tuffy
- & Tonya Villafana
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Article
| Open AccessHerpes zoster vaccine safety in the Aotearoa New Zealand population: a self-controlled case series study
The herpes zoster vaccine live was approved in New Zealand in 2018 for use in older adults. This self-controlled case-series study uses whole-country electronic health record data to assess the risk of serious adverse events associated with the vaccine, with results supporting its safety.
- James F. Mbinta
- , Alex X. Wang
- & Colin R. Simpson
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Article
| Open AccessDetecting shortcut learning for fair medical AI using shortcut testing
Diagnosing shortcut learning in clinical models is difficult, as sensitive attributes may be causally linked with disease. Using multitask learning, the authors propose a method to directly test for the presence of shortcut learning in clinical ML systems.
- Alexander Brown
- , Nenad Tomasev
- & Jessica Schrouff
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Article
| Open AccessPrevalence of diabetic retinopathy and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy in adults with diabetes in China
Current data on the national distribution of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is lacking. Here, the authors show the national distribution, associated multi-level factors, and visual impairment of DR and vision-threatening DR in Chinese adults with diabetes.
- Xuhong Hou
- , Limin Wang
- & Weiping Jia
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Article
| Open AccessEpidemiological drivers of transmissibility and severity of SARS-CoV-2 in England
The COVID-19 pandemic has been characterised by periods of dominance of different SARS-CoV-2 variants. In this mathematical modelling study, the authors investigate the epidemiological properties of successive variants in England until early 2022 and quantify the impacts of control measures.
- Pablo N. Perez-Guzman
- , Edward Knock
- & Marc Baguelin
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Article
| Open AccessThe role of vaccination and public awareness in forecasts of Mpox incidence in the United Kingdom
An outbreak of Mpox in the UK began in May 2022 and peaked in July. In this modelling study, the authors show that the decline in cases was likely due to behavioural changes among high-risk populations, whilst vaccination could prevent a rebound.
- Samuel P. C. Brand
- , Massimo Cavallaro
- & Matt J. Keeling
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Article
| Open AccessReal-time environmental surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols
Rapid detection of respiratory pathogens circulating in indoor environments could facilitate improved infection prevention responses. In this proof-of-concept study, the authors develop a pathogen air quality monitor for real-time direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols and demonstrate its application in rooms of people with SARS-CoV-2 infections.
- Joseph V. Puthussery
- , Dishit P. Ghumra
- & Rajan K. Chakrabarty
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Article
| Open AccessInduction of lysosomal exocytosis and biogenesis via TRPML1 activation for the treatment of uranium-induced nephrotoxicity
The roles of lysosomes in uranium (U) decorporation and detoxification remain to be elucidated. Here, the authors demonstrate that TRPML1 activation is an attractive therapeutic strategy to induce lysosomal exocytosis and biogenesis for the treatment of U-induced nephrotoxicity.
- Dengqin Zhong
- , Ruiyun Wang
- & Honghong Chen
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Article
| Open AccessDetecting temporal and spatial malaria patterns from first antenatal care visits
Pregnant people visiting antenatal clinics may represent a useful sentinel surveillance population for monitoring infections such as malaria. Here, the authors investigate the potential of this approach by comparing malaria prevalence in pregnant people and children living in the same area of southern Mozambique.
- Arnau Pujol
- , Nanna Brokhattingen
- & Alfredo Mayor
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Article
| Open AccessLongitudinal body mass index and cancer risk: a cohort study of 2.6 million Catalan adults
Here, the authors show that longer duration and greater degree of overweight and obesity during early adulthood as well as younger age of onset of a high body mass index are associated with a higher risk of 18 cancer types.
- Martina Recalde
- , Andrea Pistillo
- & Talita Duarte-Salles
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Article
| Open AccessUsing mortuary and burial data to place COVID-19 in Lusaka, Zambia within a global context
Estimates of COVID-19 impacts in many low- and middle-income countries remain very uncertain, with lack of high-quality data. Here, the authors reconstruct epidemic dynamics in Lusaka, Zambia and estimate that, when accounting for demographic patterns, the epidemic severity is comparable with global norms.
- Richard J. Sheppard
- , Oliver J. Watson
- & Christopher J. Gill
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Article
| Open AccessA randomized non-inferiority trial of therapeutic strategy with immunosuppressants versus biologics for Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease
Different classes of biologic therapeutics have been assessed in the context of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. Here the authors compared cyclosporine immunosuppression or adalimumab in a randomised clinical trial for the treatment of patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and found non-inferiority upon treatment with cyclosporine.
- Zhenyu Zhong
- , Lingyu Dai
- & Peizeng Yang
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Article
| Open AccessGenomic epidemiology of Vibrio cholerae during a mass vaccination campaign of displaced communities in Bangladesh
The Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh has received a large number of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals. Cholera outbreaks have been detected in the area, and here, the authors perform genomic surveillance of cholera in the refugee and non-refugee population to infer the risk of epidemic spread.
- Alyce Taylor-Brown
- , Mokibul Hassan Afrad
- & Firdausi Qadri