publications
Dr. Epstein's research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, advancing the understanding of zoonotic disease emergence, spillover dynamics, and pandemic prevention. This section highlights key publications and reports that have advanced our understanding of viral pathogens, host-virus interactions, and helped shape One Health surveillance strategies.
Interventions to Reduce Risk for Pathogen Spillover and Early Disease Spread to Prevent Outbreaks, Epidemics, and Pandemics
Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Mar;29(3):e221079.
The pathogens that cause most emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in animals, particularly wildlife, and then spill over into humans. The accelerating frequency with which humans and domestic animals encounter wildlife because of activities such as land-use change, animal husbandry, and markets and trade in live wildlife has created growing opportunities for pathogen spillover. The risk of pathogen spillover and early disease spread among domestic animals and humans, however, can be reduced by stopping the clearing and degradation of tropical and subtropical forests, improving health and economic security of communities living in emerging infectious disease hotspots, enhancing biosecurity in animal husbandry, shutting down or strictly regulating wildlife markets and trade, and expanding pathogen surveillance. We summarize expert opinions on how to implement these goals to prevent outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics.
Decoding the blueprint of receptor binding by filoviruses through large-scale binding assays and machine learning
Cell Host & Microbe, Volume 33, Issue 2, 294 - 313.e11 (2025)
Evidence suggests that bats are important hosts of filoviruses, yet the specific species involved remain largely unidentified. Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) is an essential entry receptor, with amino acid variations influencing viral susceptibility and species-specific tropism. Herein, we conducted combinatorial binding studies with seven filovirus glycoproteins (GPs) and NPC1 orthologs from 81 bat species. We found that GP-NPC1 binding correlated poorly with phylogeny. By integrating binding assays with machine learning, we identified genetic factors influencing virus-receptor-binding and predicted GP-NPC1-binding avidity for additional filoviruses and bats. Moreover, combining receptor-binding avidities with bat geographic distribution and the locations of previous Ebola outbreaks allowed us to rank bats by their potential as Ebola virus hosts. This study represents a comprehensive investigation of filovirus-receptor binding in bats (1,484 GP-NPC1 pairs, 11 filoviruses, and 135 bats) and describes a multidisciplinary approach to predict susceptible species and guide filovirus host surveillance.
Nipah virus dynamics in bats and implications for spillover to humans
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 (46) 29190-29201, doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2000429117 (2020).
Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus and World Health Organization (WHO) priority pathogen that causes near-annual outbreaks in Bangladesh and India with >75% mortality. This work advances our understanding of transmission of NiV in its natural bat reservoir by analyzing data from a 6-y multidisciplinary study of serology, viral phylogenetics, bat ecology, and immunology. We show that outbreaks in Pteropus bats are driven by increased population density, loss of immunity over time, and viral recrudescence, resulting in multiyear interepizootic periods. Incidence is low, but bats carry NiV across Bangladesh and can shed virus at any time of year, highlighting the importance of routes of transmission to the timing and location of human NiV outbreaks.
WHO South-East Asia Regional Strategy for the prevention and control of Nipah virus infection 2023–2030
The Regional publication “WHO South-east Asia Regional Strategy for the prevention and control of Nipah virus infection, 2023-2030 provides guidance for Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region to prevent severe illness and death from Nipah virus. Since 2001, Nipah virus has caused outbreaks of severe illness and death in Bangladesh and India. Countries of the Region are at risk wherever there are susceptible animals, the presence of the virus, and a pathway for transmission.