A paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, P. Kerr (et al.), “Next Step in the Ongoing Arms Race Between Myxoma Virus and wild Rabbits in Australia is a Novel Disease Phenotype,” July 14, 2017, has raised the issue that pathogens may evolve to cause complete immune collapse of the host, by suppressing their entire immune system. The paper states:
“The possibility that pathogens can become highly immunosuppressive in response to increases in host resistance needs to be considered where genetic and immunologic manipulations are used to enhance host resistance, as, for instance, in agriculture.”
