Fig. 4

Pathways to novel, potentially pathogenic bacterial disease agents. Aside from direct changes to the host microbiome caused by habitat disturbances (blue arrows), parasites directly impact host microbiome (red solid arrow) and indirectly via manipulation of host health (red dashed arrow). Since anthropogenically disturbed habitats facilitate the transmission and persistence of parasites, direct and indirect parasite-mediated changes to a host’s microbiome may become more frequent, and a dysbiotic gut may become a source of harmful bacteria. Adapted from [30]