Emerging Diseases

Emerging Infectious diseases are a newly growing discipline of infectious diseases or public health. Emerging health conditions or diseases are health problems newly emerged in a given area or due to new pathogens, or previously exist, but changes in the characteristics of the causative agent or the host factor, significant increase in disease incidence or expansion to new geographic areas/ to new communities.    

About ¾ or 75% of newly emerged diseases and established transmission among man beings are from the Zoonotic pool. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) IN China, HIV in the developing world, West Nile virus in USA, Ebola in West Africa, Malaria and Kalazar in high land Ethiopia, Zika in South America, Drug resistant Tuberculosis strains in eastern Europe  are few examples of Emerging and reemerging Infectious Diseases in recent years.

Contributing factors for emergence and reemergence of diseases are categorized under ecological, environmental, or demographic factors that place people at increased contact with a previously unfamiliar microbe or its natural host or promote transmission.

Common Contributing factors for diseases Emergence:

  • Microbial Adoption/ Change     
  • Change in human susceptibility and settlement pater: (war, natural disasters, displacement, hunger/famine, and spread of other diseases like HIV).
  • Over curding /population growth/ influx
  • Infrastructure development and technological advancement.
  • Ecological changes duet to human activities or natural phenomenon
  • Climate change and global warming
  • Change in feeding habit, animal farming and antibiotic utilization.
  • Breakdown of health care delivery system, poverty/ inequality.
  • Scientific exploration and faulty research practices.
  • International travel and trade/ globalization.