Emerging Infectious Disease Research Areas of Interest

NIAID’s emerging infectious disease research areas of interest list is periodically reviewed and is subject to revision in conjunction with our federal partners, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which determines threat assessments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is responsible for responding to emerging pathogen threats in the United States.

Research on microbial- or plant-derived toxins or antimicrobial resistance may also be included.

Bacteria

• Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)
• Bordetella pertussis (new in  FY15)
• Borrelia mayonii (new in FY18)
• Borrelia miyamotoi (new in FY14)
• Brucella species (brucellosis)
• Burkholderia mallei (glanders)
• Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis)
• Campylobacter jejuni³
• Chlamydia psittaci (psittacosis)
• Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
• Ehrlichia
• diarrheagenic Escherichia coli³
• Francisella tularensis (tularemia)
• Leptospira (new in FY14)
• Listeria monocytogenes³
• Rickettsia prowazekii (typhus fever) and other Rickettsias
• Salmonella³
• Shigella³
• Tuberculosis
• pathogenic Vibrios³
• Yersinia enterocolitica³
• Yersinia pestis (plague)

Fungi

• Coccidioides
• Microsporidia³
• Mucorales (new in FY14)

Protozoa

• Balamuthia mandrillaris³ (new in FY14)
• Cryptosporidium parvum³
• Cyclospora cayetanensis³
• Entamoeba histolytica³
• Giardia lamblia³
• Naegleria fowleri³ (new in FY14)
• Toxoplasma gondii³ 

Viruses

• Alkhurma virus⁷
• Cache Valley virus⁴ (new in FY24)
• Caliciviruses³
• California encephalitis virus⁴
• Chapare virus⁸ (new in FY14)
• Chikungunya virus⁴
• Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus⁹
• Dengue virus¹⁰
• Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE)⁴
• Ebola virus and viruses causing Ebola disease¹¹
• Enterovirus D68 (new in FY15)
• Enterovirus A71
• Guanarito virus⁸
• Hantaviruses causing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome ⁹
• Heartland virus⁶
• Hendra virus
• Hepatitis A virus³
• Influenza viruses
• Japanese encephalitis virus (JE)⁴
• Junin virus⁸
• Kyasanur Forest virus⁷
• LaCrosse encephalitis virus (LACV)⁴
• Langya virus (new in FY24)
• Lassa virus⁸
• Lujo virus⁸ (new in FY14)
• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (new in FY24)
• Machupo virus⁸
• Marburg virus¹¹
• Mayaro virus⁴ (new in FY24)
• Nipah virus
• O’nyong-nyong virus⁴ (new in FY24)
• Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus⁷
• Oropouche virus⁴ (new in FY24)
• Poliovirus (new in FY15)
• Powassan/Deer tick virus⁵
• Punta Toro virus⁷ (new in FY24)
• Rabies virus
• Rift Valley fever virus⁹
• St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV)⁴
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and other highly pathogenic human coronaviruses
• Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV)⁶
• Tickborne encephalitis viruses⁵
  • European subtype
  • Far Eastern subtype
  • Siberian subtype
• Variola major (smallpox) and other related poxviruses (including Monkeypox)
• Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEE)⁴
• West Nile virus (WNV)⁴
• Western equine encephalitis virus (WEE)⁴
• Yellow fever virus (YFV)⁴
• Zika virus⁴

Toxins/Other Infectious Agents

• Botulinum toxin/Botulism (Clostridium botulinum)
• Epsilon toxin (Clostridium perfringens)
• Prions
• Ricin toxin (Ricinus communis)
• Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)

Antimicrobial Resistance

• Serious and urgent threats as identified by the CDC 2019 AR Threat report
• Studies on resistance mechanisms, intervention development targeting antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, broad-spectrum antimicrobials, antibiotic stewardship, unexpected antibiotic failure, and (reduction/circumvention of) resistance emergence

Notes

1. This list is not representative of the complete scope of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
2. Pathogens listed on this page are not all select agents regulated by the U.S. Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP).  For a list of select agents regulated by the U.S. FSAP, refer to the Select Agents and Toxins List.
3. Food- and/or waterborne pathogen
4. Mosquito-borne viruses
5. Tickborne encephalitis complex flaviviruses
6. Tickborne hemorrhagic fever bunyaviruses
7. Tickborne hemorrhagic fever flaviviruses
8. Viral hemorrhagic fevers (arenaviruses)
9. Viral hemorrhagic fevers (bunyaviruses)
10. Viral hemorrhagic fevers (flaviviruses)
11. Viral hemorrhagic fevers (filoviruses)