Outside the realm of aquaculture, where humans have a vested interest in understanding the health of their stock and antibiotics are often used, marine disease is exceptionally poorly understood. It is thought that much of observed disease on corals is caused by anthropogenic stressors. The best dedicated source of information on marine disease is the peer-reviewed open access journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms.

It is vitally important to understand diseases of other living organisms better, since they can often be readily transferred to humans. Examples include parasites, viruses, such as those causing Ebola and COVID-19, and bacteria, such as those causing cholera. It is instrumental that such work has the highest safety measures in place because lab leaks can also cause global pandemics.

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