title: Comparison of the h-Index Scores Among Pathogens Identified as Emerging Hazards in North America.
abstract: Disease surveillance must assess the relative importance of pathogen hazards. Here, we use the Hirsch index (h-index) as a novel method to identify and rank infectious pathogens that are likely to be a hazard to human health in the North American region. This bibliometric index was developed to quantify an individual's scientific research output and was recently used as a proxy measure for pathogen impact. Analysis of more than 3000 infectious organisms indicated that 651 were human pathogen species that had been recorded in the North American region. The h-index of these pathogens ranged from 0 to 584. The h-index of emerging pathogens was greater than non-emerging pathogens as was the h-index of frequently pathogenic pathogens when compared to non-pathogenic pathogens. As expected, the h-index of pathogens varied over time between 1960 and 2011. We discuss how the h-index can contribute to pathogen prioritization and as an indicator of pathogen emergence.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Veterinary Epidemiological Research, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.affiliation: Centre for Veterinary Epidemiological Research, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Setzkorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baylis
authors.affiliation: Centre for Veterinary Epidemiological Research, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Revie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D063369:Knowledge Discovery / Q000379:methods*; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: bibliometric; h-index; pathogen emergence; pathogen hazard; pathogen prioritization