Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases
According to a report, World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 warned that infectious diseases are emerging at an alarming rate that has been never seen before. The primary reason is people nowadays are traveling far greater distances more frequently, causing emerging infectious diseases to spread rapidly. Other reasons include numerous changes in demographics, industrialization, animal health, food safety, economics, and the environment. In the last three decades, over 30 new infectious agents have been detected globally. Among them, 60% are zoonotic diseases that occurred due to increased contact between humans and animals as a by-product of development, populations, deforestation, climate change, invasion of animal habitats, the building of dams, and intensive agricultural practice, all causing global epidemics. These emerging infections also present grave economic, developmental, and security challenges. International and domestic travel is a critical factor responsible for spreading pathogens and also affect the economic stability of societies. Fragile health systems contribute in the emergence and rapid spread of epidemic diseases. Heedless mobility is highly responsible for spreading emerging viral diseases. Civil war has opened the door for spreading infectious diseases through vulnerable populations. Human-animal interaction is tremendous for the emergence or re-emergence of infectious disease mainly in agriculture practice societies. There are two types of infectious diseases-
- Emerging
- Re-emerging
Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are diseases of infectious origin caused by newly identified & previously unknown infectious agents. These are newly evolved, or newly recognized or have not been observed previously within a population or geographic location. EIDs include the introduction of a disease to a new location or a new population causing public health problems either locally or internationally. Some of the examples of EIDs are Avian influenza A(H7N9), tuberculosis, malaria, severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), meningococcal meningitis, and other encephalitis’s. Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases (ReIDs) are those which has reappeared after falling to very low levels and now are showing upward trends in incidence or prevalence worldwide. Some of the examples of ReIDs are plague, chikungunya, influenza, kala-azar, and diphtheria. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are historically overlooked diseases persisting exclusively in the poorest and the most marginalized communities. WHO has specifically identified 17 core NTDs and about 1 billion people are affected by one or more NTDs. The primary cause is unsafe water, poor sanitation, and lack of access to necessary public health and health care systems for treatment. Surveillance of vector populations for signs of infection by use of environmentally safe insecticides, the use of insecticide-treated nets and other personal protective measures are some of the methods to control NTDs. COVID-19 caused by a zoonotic virus u2959 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global health challenge causing severe respiratory tract infections in humans. It is mainly spread by the respiratory route and through coughing, sneezing, and close personal contact, such as touching mouth, nose, or eyes or shaking hands. Neglected zoonotic diseases (NZDs) are transmitted between humans and other vertebrate animals. Among 17 NTDs, seven of them are identified as targeted NZDs by WHO. Emerging and re-emerging neglected tropical diseases (EReNTDs) have rapidly increased in the last two decades impacting the world’s poorest populations and are a subset of the 17 NTDs identified by WHO. Dengue, rabies, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) are some of the examples of EReNTDs.
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