A quarter of deaths worldwide are caused by infectious organisms. As new infectious diseases are continuing to emerge in new locations around the globe, it is essential society understands the environmental, human health, and ecological impacts cause by infectious diseases. This collection provides an overview of infectious disease, including the biology, history, the future trends of widespread and harmful infections, and what we need to do individually, and as a society, to address this growing global challenge.
44 pagesWhat You Need to Know About Infectious Disease (2010)
About a quarter of deaths worldwide--many of them children--are caused by infectious organisms. The World Health Organization reports that new infectious diseases are continuing to emerge and familiar ones are appearing in new locations around the globe. What's behind this ...[more]
340 pagesSustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases (2009)
H1N1 ("swine flu"), SARS, mad cow disease, and HIV/AIDS are a few examples of zoonotic diseases-diseases transmitted between humans and animals. Zoonotic diseases are a growing concern given multiple factors: their often novel and unpredictable nature, their ability to emerge ...[more]
324 pagesInfectious Disease Movement in a Borderless World:Workshop Summary (2010)
Modern transportation allows people, animals, and plants--and the pathogens they carry--to travel more easily than ever before. The ease and speed of travel, tourism, and international trade connect once-remote areas with one another, eliminating many of the geographic and cultural ...[more]
440 pagesIn March and early April 2009, a new, swine-origin 2009-H1N1 influenza A virus emerged in Mexico and the United States. During the first few weeks of surveillance, the virus spread by human-to-human transmission worldwide to over 30 countries. On June ...[more]
350 pagesVector-borne infectious diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and plague, cause a significant fraction of the global infectious disease burden; indeed, nearly half of the world's population is infected with at least one type of vector-borne pathogen (CIESIN, ...[more]
246 pagesGlobalization is by no means a new phenomenon; transcontinental trade and the movement of people date back at least 2,000 years, to the era of the ancient Silk Road trade route. The global spread of infectious disease has followed a ...[more]
432 pagesThe Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Are We Ready? Workshop Summary (2005)
Public health officials and organizations around the world remain on high alert because of increasing concerns about the prospect of an influenza pandemic, which many experts believe to be inevitable. Moreover, recent problems with the availability and strain-specificity of vaccine ...[more]