Since the dawn of medical science, people have recognized connections between a change in the weather and the appearance of epidemic disease. With today's technology, some hope that it will be possible to build models for predicting the emergence and spread of many infectious diseases based on climate and weather forecasts. However, separating the effects of climate from other effects presents a tremendous scientific challenge. Can we use climate and weather forecasts to predict infectious disease outbreaks? Can the field of public health advance from "surveillance and response" to "prediction and prevention?" And perhaps the most important question of all: Can we predict how global warming will affect the emergence and transmission of infectious disease agents around the world? Under the Weather evaluates our current understanding of the linkages among climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease; it then goes a step further and outlines the research needed to improve our understanding of these linkages. The book also examines the potential for using climate forecasts and ecological observations to help predict infectious disease outbreaks, identifies the necessary components for an epidemic early warning system, and reviews lessons learned from the use of climate forecasts in other realms of human activity.
The most recent Ebola epidemic that began in late 2013 alerted the entire world to the gaps in infectious disease emergency preparedness and response. The regional outbreak that progressed to a significant public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in a matter of months killed 11,310 and infected more than 28,616. While this outbreak bears some unique distinctions to past outbreaks, many characteristics remain the same and contributed to tragic loss of human life and unnecessary expenditure of capital: insufficient knowledge of the disease, its reservoirs, and its transmission; delayed prevention efforts and treatment; poor control of the disease in hospital settings; and inadequate community and international responses. Recognizing the opportunity to learn from the countless lessons of this epidemic, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop in March 2015 to discuss the challenges to successful outbreak responses at the scientific, clinical, and global health levels. Workshop participants explored the epidemic from multiple perspectives, identified important questions about Ebola that remained unanswered, and sought to apply this understanding to the broad challenges posed by Ebola and other emerging pathogens, to prevent the international community from being taken by surprise once again in the face of these threats. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
In the past half century, deadly disease outbreaks caused by novel viruses of animal origin - Nipah virus in Malaysia, Hendra virus in Australia, Hantavirus in the United States, Ebola virus in Africa, along with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), several influenza subtypes, and the SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) coronaviruses - have underscored the urgency of understanding factors influencing viral disease emergence and spread. Emerging Viral Diseases is the summary of a public workshop hosted in March 2014 to examine factors driving the appearance, establishment, and spread of emerging, re-emerging and novel viral diseases; the global health and economic impacts of recently emerging and novel viral diseases in humans; and the scientific and policy approaches to improving domestic and international capacity to detect and respond to global outbreaks of infectious disease. This report is a record of the presentations and discussion of the event.
Zoonotic diseases represent one of the leading causes of illness and death from infectious disease. Defined by the World Health Organization, zoonoses are "those diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man with or without an arthropod intermediate." Worldwide, zoonotic diseases have a negative impact on commerce, travel, and economies. In most developing countries, zoonotic diseases are among those diseases that contribute significantly to an already overly burdened public health system. In industrialized nations, zoonotic diseases are of particular concern for at-risk groups such as the elderly, children, childbearing women, and immunocompromised individuals. The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases: Understanding the Impact on Animal and Human Health, covers a range of topics, which include: an evaluation of the relative importance of zoonotic diseases against the overall backdrop of emerging infections; research findings related to the current state of our understanding of zoonotic diseases; surveillance and response strategies to detect, prevent, and mitigate the impact of zoonotic diseases on human health; and information about ongoing programs and actions being taken to identify the most important needs in this vital area.
This comprehensive volume provides a platform from which both major and minor infectious diseases related issues are addressed in-depth among this highly susceptible population. The book begins with an overview of infections in various modalities. This is followed by chapters on clinical disorders, etiologic agents, therapeutics, and infection prevention. Chapters include easy-to-follow figures and tables, radiologic images, and pictorial demonstrations of various disease states to familiarize and reacquaint the transplant clinicians and surgeons in practice and training, and those belonging to subspecialties providing supportive care for these patients. Discussions to enumerate the noninfectious causes that mimic infectious diseases; clinical relevance and effective utility of existing and emerging diagnostic tools are presented throughout the book. Authored by leaders in their fields, this book is the go-to reference for management of patients undergoing hematopoietic and solid organ transplantation.
Offering up-to-date coverage of familiar flaviviruses that are spreading into new regions or are causing increasingly severe disease, as well as viruses that are almost unknown in most developed nations, Zika and Other Neglected and Emerging Flaviviruses brings together information that allows for easy comparison of similarities and differences of this viral group in a single, convenient volume. Each chapter includes a brief Introduction, history, the diseases, the virus, the immune response, prevention or treatment, an extensive list of references, and a summary overview. The book concludes with a chapter tying together information about flaviviruses and other potential new microbial threats. - Covers familiar flaviviruses that are spreading into new regions or are causing increasingly severe disease (such as Zika, dengue and West Nile viruses), as well as lesser-knowns viruses such as tick-borne encephalitis virus, Powassan virus, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, and Murray Valley encephalitis virus. - Allows health-related personnel to search for potential treatments and protective responses by examining what measure did or did not work with other, related flaviviruses. - Helps readers understand how to prevent or contain newly emerging viral threats—a particularly timely topic regarding the global spread of COVID-19 and the potential of tick-borne encephalitis to rapidly spread and cause severe illness, panic, and disruption of economies. - Consolidates today's available information on this timely topic into a single, convenient resource.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia