Future Infectious Diseases - Emerging Threats | Encyclopedia AU

Future infectious diseases are pathogens that may emerge or evolve in the coming years, posing challenges to global health security.
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Global Health Threats | Pathogen Evolution | Emerging Threats | Global Health Security
Prepared by Shruti Sahoo, reviewed by Dr. Eugene Smith

Future Infectious Diseases FAQ


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How many new infectious diseases are there?

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates three out of every four new infectious diseases, and nearly all pandemics, emerge this way. Researchers have counted around 200 infectious diseases that have broken out more than 12,000 times over the past three decades.

Are infectious diseases a one health problem?

Infectious diseases are almost always what we call One Health problems. The term refers to the intimate link between human and animal health, agriculture and the environment. Microbes that cause disease often move easily between reservoirs in the environment, animals and people.

Does environmental change affect infectious disease emergence?

"By contrast, little attention has been paid to the interactions between environmental change and infectious disease emergence, despite growing evidence that causally links these two phenomena," the authors wrote.

What is the new threat of infectious disease?

While life expectancy continues to increase, and life years lost to infectious diseases decline, the new threat of infectious disease will likely come from emerging and re-emerging infections. Climate change, rapid urbanization and changing land-use patterns will increase the risk of disease emergence in the coming decades.

Is there a new era of infectious disease?

This points to a possible new era of infectious disease, defined by outbreaks of emerging, re-emerging and endemic pathogens that spread quickly, aided by global connectivity and shifted ranges owing to climate change (Fig. 1d ). Fig. 1: Human connectivity and infectious disease outbreaks in premodern and modern times.

How does a changing world affect infectious disease risk?

A changing world requires changing science to evaluate future risks from infectious disease. Future work needs to explicitly address concurrent changes: how shifting patterns of demographic, climatic and technological factors may collectively affect the risk of pathogen emergence, alterations to dynamics and global spread.

Future Infectious Diseases References

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