Are Outbreaks of Infectious Disease Accelerating Around the World?

By Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog It seems that every time we look up, we hear about another infectious disease threatening people somewhere in the world. We really pay attention to the exotic threats - like Ebola and Zika that tend to get heavy media coverage. But sometimes we forget some of the common diseases that occur periodically like outbreaks of measles or the yearly influenza outbreak. Recently, the Zika virus spread throughout South and Latin America, Mexico and Puerto Rico with its devastating effects on the newborn. We are all holding our breath, as Zika has the potential to spread along the Gulf Coast and in the southern US. One explanation for these more frequent outbreaks is that outbreaks are more efficiently detected and reported by public health systems around the world. However, there are many factors that make the case for an increase in the spread of infectious diseases. Why is this happening and why now? First, the world is becoming a smaller place. It wasn't all that long ago that Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" was considered fantastic. Today, from most cities around the world, a flight can connect you to any place on the globe within 24 hours. This allows infectious diseases access to susceptible populations anywhere in the world. Recently, a Liberian citizen named Thomas Duncan was infected with Ebola in Liberia and traveled to Dallas before showing symptoms of infection. In a Dallas hospital where he was treated, two healthc...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news