AIDS, Avian flu, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika… what next?

Abstract

Emerging infections have threatened humanity since times immemorial. The dramatic anthropogenic, behavioral and social changes that have affected humanity and the environment in the past century have accelerated the intrusion of novel pathogens into the global human population, sometimes with devastating consequences. The AIDS and influenza pandemics have claimed and will continue to claim millions of lives. The recent SARS and Ebola epidemics have threatened populations across borders. The emergence of MERS may well be warning signals of a nascent pandemic threat, while the potential for geographical spread of vector-borne diseases, such as Zika, but also Dengue and Chikungunya is unprecedented. Novel technologies and innovative approaches have multiplied to address and improve response preparedness towards the increasing yet unpredictable threat posed by emerging pathogens.

Keywords: Emerging; Epidemics; Preparedness; Virus.

Fig. 1

Global distribution of reported cases of SARS coronavirus infection at the end of the epidemic of 2003 and of MERS coronavirus infection as of January 2017 (at country level); blue: countries that reported cases of SARS coronavirus infection only; yellow: countries that reported cases of MERS coronavirus infection only; orange: countries that reported both cases of SARS and MERS coronavirus infection. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 2

Current geographical range of sustained transmission of Dengue (A), Chikungunya (B) and Zika (C) virus (at country level).