Pauline Kamath

Lab Website: kamathlab.weebly.com

Professional Interests: Disease ecology and evolution; One Health; wildlife conservation; genomics; population genetics; phylogenetics

Teaching: AVS 249 Laboratory and Companion Animal Science, AVS 477/577 Zoonoses and Animal Health

Research: Pauline’s research investigates infectious disease dynamics and host-pathogen evolution in wildlife, with a focus on systems at the interface with domestic species. She combines molecular, genomic, and statistical approaches to address questions, including:

1. How do pathogens influence host genetic diversity, immunity, and susceptibility across species?
2. How do host-microbiome-pathogen interactions shape disease outcomes and transmission dynamics?
3. What ecological, social, and evolutionary factors drive disease spread across hosts, space, and time?
4. How do pathogen transmission and spillover events occur between wild and domestic species, and what factors predict these events?
5. How can genetic, ecological, and movement data be combined to understand and anticipate disease outbreaks in wildlife populations?

Research in her group integrates field and laboratory studies with multidisciplinary analyses, combining genetic, ecological, immunological, and epidemiological data.  Other interests include examining population trends, structure, connectivity, and hybridization in threatened and invasive species.

Pauline’ Google Scholar Page

Selected Publications:

Talmon, I., S. Pekarsky, Y. Barton, N. Thie, W.M. Getz, P.L. Kamath, R.C.K. Bowie, R. Nathan (2025) Using wild-animal tracking for detecting and managing disease. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 40(8): P760-P771. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2025.05.004

Corl, A., M. Charter, G. Rozman, S. Turjeman, S. Toledo, P.L. Kamath, W.M. Getz, R. Nathan, R.C.K. Bowie (2024) Social, environmental, and developmental factors affect the microbiota of barn owls (Tyto alba) in a cross-fostering experiment. Animal Microbiome 6: 77. DOI: 10.1186/s42523-024-00365-w

Ochai, S.O., L. Snyman, A.C. Dolfi, A. Ramoelo, B.K. Reilly, J.M. Botha, E.H. Dekker, O.L. van Schalkwyk, P.L. Kamath, E. Archer, W.C. Turner, H. van Heerden (2024) Roles of host and environment in shift of primary anthrax host species in Kruger National Park. PLoS ONE 19(12): e0314103. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314103

Ochai, S.O., A. Hassim, T. Magome, K.E. Lekota, S.M. Makgabo, P.L. Kamath, W.C. Turner, H. van Heerden (2024) Comparing microbiological and molecular diagnostic tools for the surveillance of anthrax. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 18(11): e0012122. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012122

Prentice, M.B., M.L.J. Gilbertson, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner, D.P. Walsh, M.E Pinkerton, P.L. Kamath (2024) Metagenomic sequencing sheds light on microbes putatively associated with pneumonia-related fatalities in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus viginianus). Microbial Genomics 10: 001214. DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.001214

Huang, Y.-H., N. Owen-Smith, M.D. Henley, J.W. Kilian, P.L. Kamath, S.O. Ochai, H. van Heerden, J.K.E. Mfune, W.M. Getz, W.C. Turner (2023) Variation in herbivore space use: comparing two savanna ecosystems with different anthrax outbreak patterns in southern Africa. Movement Ecology 11: 46. DOI: 10.1186/s40462-023-00385-2

Thie, N., A. Corl, S. Turjeman, R. Efrat, P.L. Kamath, W.M. Getz, R.C.K. Bowie, R. Nathan (2022) Linking migration and microbiota at a major stopover site in a long-distance avian migrant. Movement Ecology 10: 46. DOI: 10.1186/s40462-022-00347-0

Shea, S.A, M.B. Gonnerman, E.J. Blomberg, K.M. Sullivan, P. Milligan, P.L. Kamath (2022) Pathogen survey and predictors of lymphoproliferative disease virus infection in wild turkeys. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 58(3): 537-549. DOI: 10.7589/JWD-D-21-00152

Choi, O., A. Corl, A. Wolfenden, A. Lublin, S.L. Ishaq, S. Turjeman, R. Nathan, W.M. Getz, R.C.K. Bowie, P.L. Kamath (2021) High-throughput sequencing for examining Salmonella prevalence and pathogen-microbiota relationships in barn swallows. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 683183. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.683183

Elliott, J.A., C.C. Dickson, L. Kantar, M.R. O’Neal, A. Lichtenwalner, A. Bryant, W. Jakubas, P.J. Pekins, S.M. De Urioste-Stone, P.L. Kamath (2021) Prevalence and risk factors of Anaplasma infections in Eastern moose (Alces alces americana) and winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) in Maine, United States. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 57 (4): 844-855. DOI: 10.7589/JWD-D-21-00020

Bruce, S.A., Y.-H. Huang, P.L. Kamath, H. van Heerden, W.C. Turner (2021) The roles of antimicrobial resistance, phage diversity and environment in shaping the genomic architecture of Bacillus anthracis. Microbial Genomics 7: 000616. DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000616

Turner, W.C., P.L. Kamath, H. van Heerden, Y.-H. Huang, Z.R. Barandongo, S.A. Bruce, K. Kausrud (2021) The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence-transmission relationships. Royal Society Open Science 8: 210088. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210088

Turjeman, S, A. Corl, A. Wolfenden, M. Tsalyuk, A. Lublin, O. Choi, P.L. Kamath, W.M. Getz, R.C.K. Bowie, R. Nathan (2020) Migration, pathogens, and the avian microbiome: a comparative study in sympatric migrants and residents. Molecular Ecology 29: 4706-4720. DOI: 10.1111/mec.15660

Kamath, P.L., K. Manlove, E.F. Cassirer, P.C. Cross, T.E. Besser (2019) Genetic structure of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae informs pathogen spillover dynamics between domestic and wild Caprinae in the western United States. Scientific Reports 9: 15318. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51444-x

Fitak, R.R., et al. (2019). The expectations and challenges of wildlife disease research in the era of genomics: forecasting with a horizon scan-like exercise. Journal of Heredity, 110(3): 261-274. DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esz001

Carlson, C., W.M. Getz, K.L. Kausrud, C.A. Cizauskas, J.K. Blackburn, F. A. Bustos, R.R. Colwell, W.R. Easterday, H.H. Ganz, P.L. Kamath, O.A. Økstad, W.C. Turner, A.-B. Kolstø, N.C. Stenseth (2018) Spores and soil from six sides: interdisciplinarity and the environmental biology of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). Biological Reviews 93(4): 1813-1831. DOI: 10.1111/brv.12420

Cassirer, E.F., K.R. Manlove, E.S. Almberg, P.L. Kamath, M. Cox, P. Wolff, A. Roug, J. Shannon, R. Robinson, R. Harris, B. Gonzales, R.K. Plowright, P.J. Hudson, P.C. Cross, A. Dobson, T.E. Besser (2017) Pneumonia in bighorn sheep: risk and resilience. Journal of Wildlife Management 82: 32-45. DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21309

Kamath, P.L., J.T. Foster, K.P. Drees, G. Luikart, C. Quance, N.J. Anderson, P.R. Clarke, E.K. Cole, M.L Drew, W.H. Edwards, J.C. Rhyan, J.J. Treanor, R.L. Wallen, P.J. White, S. Robbe-Austerman, P.C. Cross (2016) Genomics reveals historic and contemporary transmission dynamics of a bacterial disease among wildlife and livestock. Nature Communications 7: 11448. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11448

Kamath, P.L., M.A. Haroldson, G. Luikart, D. Paetkau, C. Whitman, F.T. van Manen (2015) Multiple estimates of effective population size for monitoring a long-lived vertebrate: an application to Yellowstone grizzly bears. Molecular Ecology 24(22): 5507-5521. DOI: 10.1111/mec.13398

Kamath, P.L., W.C. Turner, M. Küsters, W.M. Getz (2014) Parasite-mediated selection drives an immunogenetic tradeoff in plains zebras (Equus quagga). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281: 20140077. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0077

Book Chapters:

Manlove, K., E.S. Almberg, P.L. Kamath, R.K. Plowright, T.E. Besser, P.J. Hudson. (2019) Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in bighorn sheep: from exploration to action. In: Wildlife Disease Ecology: Linking Theory to Data and Application. Eds. K. Wilson, A. Fenton, D. Tompkins. British Ecological Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Haroldson, M.A., P.L. Kamath, F.T. van Manen (2017) Adaptive capabilities and genetics. Eds. P.J. White, K.A. Gunther, F.T. van Manen. In: Yellowstone Grizzly Bears: Ecology and Conservation of an Icon of Wildness, p. 90-101, Yellowstone Forever, Yellowstone National Park.

Technical Reports

World Health Organization (2024) Recommended actions for advancing the operationalization of a One Health approach in countries in the WHO European Region. Prepared in collaboration with the WHO One Health Technical Advisory Group: M. De Block, D. Bicout, G. Chakhunashvili, A.A. Cunningham, E. de Leeuw, U. Dumpis, W. Getz, L. Herman, N. Janev, S. Jore, P.L. Kamath, N. Karsybekova, I. Kickbusch, M. Koopmans, A. Mantovani, T. Mettenleiter, R.M. Peran Sala, D. Petric, S. Ruegg, S. Sadetzki, J. van der Giessen, J. Wood.