Author: Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2023-11-16

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 2889714101

Background: Emerging infectious diseases (EID) have posed a recurring threat to human civilizations throughout history. The list of emerging infections continues to grow with a diverse set of pathogens against which we have inadequate counter measures. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is perhaps the EID that defines our times, taking well over a decade before rates of new infection could be curbed following identification of the etiologic agent in 1983. Deep study of most EID reveals the intricate complexity and connectedness of humans, animals, pathogens, vectors, and environ. Ongoing outbreaks of Ebola and Lassa fever emphasize how population expansion may create niches and opportunity for infectious disease emergence. Globalization can bring people and pathogen together as rapid as ever in various ways. Factors such as unplanned urbanization, global warming, social disparities, and other ecologic conditions also add fuel to the fire for what may be the next EID – a coronavirus, avian influenza, or a yet unknown viral agent. Though smallpox and polio give rare examples of highly successful public health efforts to overcome the challenges of infectious diseases, the translation and implementation of scientific research and discovery remains critical.