scholarly journals Epilogue: What The Future Holds

2021 ◽  
pp. 204-214
Author(s):  
Dorothy H. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Lassa Fever ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Marburg Virus ◽  
Emerging Infections ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Global Alliance ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
The Future ◽  
Health Organization

This concluding chapter explores what the future holds for emerging viruses. Clearly, emerging viruses are on the rise, so we urgently need to find out why they are emerging so frequently and how to stop them. We know that they are generally zoonotic, having jumped to us from an animal source. Broadly speaking, the reason for the rise in these spillover events and subsequent spread is twofold: human population growth and increased international travel. The World Health Organization (WHO) regularly publishes a list of potential emerging diseases investigation into which requires urgent research and development. Presently this includes COVID-19, Ebola and related Marburg virus diseases, Lassa fever, MERS, SARS, Nipah and related henipaviral diseases, Rift Valley fever, Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever, Zika, and Disease X (the latter meaning a hitherto unknown disease). But while most would agree that it is sensible to encourage research into these potential epidemic viruses, the most likely candidate to cause the next epidemic or pandemic is Virus X—a ‘new’ virus causing Disease X. The chapter then briefly mentions the founding of the Global Alliance Vaccine Initiative (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), both of which aim to prepare vaccines against emerging infections and to enable equitable access to them.

Multisystem diseases and infections

2021 ◽  
pp. 673-766
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ashley ◽  
Caryn Bern ◽  
Margaret Borok ◽  
Helen Brotherton ◽  
Francois Chappuis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Lassa Fever ◽  
Marburg Virus ◽  
Haemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
Cancer Management ◽  
Kala Azar ◽  
General Rules ◽  
Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Severe Fever

Differential diagnosis of fevers?, Fever without localizing features?, Sepsis?, Cancer?, General rules of cancer management?, Rheumatoid arthritis?, Osteoarthritis?, Systemic lupus erythematosus?, Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers?, Rickettsioses?, Bartonella?, Ehrlichia?, Coxiella?, Relapsing fevers?, Leptospirosis?, Brucellosis?, Plague?, Melioidosis?, Anthrax?, African trypanosomiasis?, American trypanosomiasis?, Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar)?, Infectious mononucleosis?, Measles?, Arboviruses and zoonotic haemorrhagic fever viruses , Ebola and Marburg virus diseases, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever, Lassa fever, Hantavirus infections, Severe fever and thrombocytopenia, Zika virus, Japanese encephalitis , Dengue virus, Yellow fever, West Nile virus , Kyasanur Forest Disease, Chikungunya, Ross River fever, O'nyong nyong

scholarly journals Emerging Infections

2021 ◽  
pp. 40-71
Author(s):  
Dorothy H. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Lassa Fever ◽  
Single Infection ◽  
Single Individual ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Emerging Infections ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Primary Host ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Human Viruses

This chapter examines emerging infections. Emerging human viruses may cause anything from a single infection, to a small outbreak, and on to an epidemic or pandemic. The main factors that determine whether an outbreak progresses to an epidemic and on to a pandemic are the virus’s ability to infect and spread between humans, the availability of non-immune hosts within the virus’s range, and the effectiveness of any precautionary measures taken to inhibit virus spread. This is measured by the R number, or case reproduction number. The chapter then looks at groups of emerging viruses with very differing R values (not forgetting that viruses may move up or down the scale as circumstances change). These include viruses that spread no further than a single individual, such as rabies and hantaviruses; viruses that cause sporadic epidemics after introduction to a human index case from their primary host, such as Ebola, Lassa fever, and the coronaviruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV); and viruses that can subsequently circulate continuously among humans causing epidemics, such as yellow fever, Zika, and dengue viruses.

scholarly journals Scoping future outbreaks: a scoping review on the outbreak prediction of the WHO Blueprint list of priority diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. e006623
Author(s):  
Nils Jonkmans ◽  
Valérie D’Acremont ◽  
Antoine Flahault
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Rift Valley ◽  
Rift Valley Fever ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Marburg Virus ◽  
Prediction Methods ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
Priority List

BackgroundThe WHO’s Research and Development Blueprint priority list designates emerging diseases with the potential to generate public health emergencies for which insufficient preventive solutions exist. The list aims to reduce the time to the availability of resources that can avert public health crises. The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic illustrates that an effective method of mitigating such crises is the pre-emptive prediction of outbreaks. This scoping review thus aimed to map and identify the evidence available to predict future outbreaks of the Blueprint diseases.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of PubMed, Embase and Web of Science related to the evidence predicting future outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg virus, Zika virus, Lassa fever, Nipah and Henipaviral disease, Rift Valley fever, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome and Disease X. Prediction methods, outbreak features predicted and implementation of predictions were evaluated. We conducted a narrative and quantitative evidence synthesis to highlight prediction methods that could be further investigated for the prevention of Blueprint diseases and COVID-19 outbreaks.ResultsOut of 3959 articles identified, we included 58 articles based on inclusion criteria. 5 major prediction methods emerged; the most frequent being spatio-temporal risk maps predicting outbreak risk periods and locations through vector and climate data. Stochastic models were predominant. Rift Valley fever was the most predicted disease. Diseases with complex sociocultural factors such as Ebola were often predicted through multifactorial risk-based estimations. 10% of models were implemented by health authorities. No article predicted Disease X outbreaks.ConclusionsSpatiotemporal models for diseases with strong climatic and vectorial components, as in River Valley fever prediction, may currently best reduce the time to the availability of resources. A wide literature gap exists in the prediction of zoonoses with complex sociocultural and ecological dynamics such as Ebola, COVID-19 and especially Disease X.

scholarly journals Emerging Viral Diseases of Tomato Crops

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 539-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge M. Hanssen ◽  
Moshe Lapidot ◽  
Bart P. H. J. Thomma
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Genetic Resistance ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Viral Diseases ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Plant Materials ◽  
Tomato Production ◽  
Climate Conditions

Viral diseases are an important limiting factor in many crop production systems. Because antiviral products are not available, control strategies rely on genetic resistance or hygienic measures to prevent viral diseases, or on eradication of diseased crops to control such diseases. Increasing international travel and trade of plant materials enhances the risk of introducing new viruses and their vectors into production systems. In addition, changing climate conditions can contribute to a successful spread of newly introduced viruses or their vectors and establishment of these organisms in areas that were previously unfavorable. Tomato is economically the most important vegetable crop worldwide and many viruses infecting tomato have been described, while new viral diseases keep emerging. Pepino mosaic virus is a rapidly emerging virus which has established itself as one of the most important viral diseases in tomato production worldwide over recent years. Begomovirus species and other whitefly-transmitted viruses are invading into new areas, and several recently described new viruses such as Tomato torrado virus and new Tospovirus species are rapidly spreading over large geographic areas. In this article, emerging viruses of tomato crops are discussed.

Response to Austriaco on Vaccine Passports

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-4
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
International Travel ◽  
World Health ◽  
Yellow Fever Vaccine ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

This essay clarifies the author’s objections to COVID-19 vaccine credentials voiced in “The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports.” The author’s objections centered on discriminatory practices based on vaccine status for domestic social and work activities, but he agrees with the World Health Organization that these credentials should not be required for international travel. In addition, there is a significant ethical different between currently available COVID-19 vaccines and the yellow fever vaccine because the former are produced or tested using abortion-derived cell lines. The yellow fever vaccine is much less ethically problematic. This situation could change with the approval of new COVID-19 vaccines without links to abortion-derived cell lines.

Antiviral Therapy of Haemorrhagic Fevers and Arbovirus Infections

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-79
Author(s):  
Mike Bray ◽  
John Huggins
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Protective Efficacy ◽  
Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Drug Effects ◽  
Lassa Fever ◽  
Interferon Α ◽  
Haemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Valley Fever

RNA viruses of the families Arena-, Bunya-, Filo-, Flavi-and Togaviridae cause illness in humans ranging from mild, non-specific febrile syndromes to fulminant, lethal haemorrhagic fever. They are transmitted from animals to humans and from human to human by arthropods, aerosols or contact with body fluids. Antiviral compounds, convalescent plasma and interferon inhibit many of these agents in vitro and in virus-infected animals. Drug or plasma treatment is now in use for several human diseases, and would probably be beneficial for a number of others for which there is only limited treatment experience. Success is linked to early diagnosis and initiation of therapy. Ribavirin is used to treat Lassa fever and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, and would probably be effective for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and for all New World arenavirus diseases. The value of ribavirin in the early treatment of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is under evaluation. Convalescent plasma is the therapy of choice for Argentine haemorrhagic fever, and would also probably be effective for other New World arenaviruses and some other infections if a safe supply of plasma could be maintained. Ribavirin and interferon-α have both shown protective efficacy in non-human primates infected with Rift Valley fever virus. No effective therapy has yet been identified for filovirus infections, but results in animal models are encouraging. More clinical research is urgently needed. Even if placebo-controlled drug trials cannot be performed, conscientious reports of the results of therapy in limited numbers of patients can still provide evidence of antiviral drug effects.

scholarly journals TOURISM AND VACCINE HESITANCY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Yuheng Zhu ◽  
Bettina Grün ◽  
Sara Dolnicar
Keyword(s):  
Tourism Industry ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Travel History ◽  
Safety And Efficacy ◽  
The Future

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the main obstacles facing the tourism industry in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are sceptical about the COVID-19 vaccine and decide not to get vaccinated. Our research aims to test the effectiveness of using travel-related incentives to overcome vaccine hesitancy. We investigate (1) whether travel-related beliefs and behaviours are associated with vaccination willingness, and (2) whether alerting people to travel-related freedoms linked to vaccination can increase vaccination willingness. Our results indicate that (1) there is a significant association between people’s international travel history, their desire to travel internationally in the future and vaccination willingness, and (2) this association cannot, however, be leveraged to further increase vaccination willingness as vaccine-related beliefs (safety and efficacy) are the primary drivers of vaccination willingness.

scholarly journals Novel Antiviral Activities of Obatoclax, Emetine, Niclosamide, Brequinar, and Homoharringtonine

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petter I. Andersen ◽  
Klara Krpina ◽  
Aleksandr Ianevski ◽  
Nastassia Shtaida ◽  
Eunji Jo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza A ◽  
Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
World Health ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Hiv 1

Viruses are the major causes of acute and chronic infectious diseases in the world. According to the World Health Organization, there is an urgent need for better control of viral diseases. Re-purposing existing antiviral agents from one viral disease to another could play a pivotal role in this process. Here we identified novel activities of obatoclax and emetine against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), echovirus 1 (EV1), human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) in cell cultures. Moreover, we demonstrated novel activities of emetine against influenza A virus (FluAV), niclosamide against HSV-2, brequinar against HIV-1, and homoharringtonine against EV1. Our findings may expand the spectrum of indications of these safe-in-man agents and reinforce the arsenal of available antiviral therapeutics pending the results of further in vivo tests.

scholarly journals Emerging zoonoses in Indonesia: implication for the future

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Toni Wandra
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Zoonotic Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Emerging Zoonoses ◽  
The Future ◽  
Health Organization

World Health Organization (WHO) defines zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) as those diseases and infections which are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans. More than 250 zoonoses have been described, over 60% of pathogens that cause diseases in humans are zoonoses of animals, and 75% of emerging infectious diseases. Most pandemics are caused by zoonoses.

Editor’s Note: Another Tough Year Comes to an End

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Tom Ondicho
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Disruptive Effect ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Internal Mobility

As the end of the year 2021 draws near, it is time to reflect and take stock as well as look into the future. This year like 2020 was equally tough as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the world. The mortality and morbidity rates remain high despite the development of a vaccine and many people being vaccinated. New variants of the virus emerged in 2021 leading to renewed restrictions on businesses and internal mobility as well as international travel to some parts of the world. No doubt, the pandemic has had a cascading disruptive effect on all facets of life and continues to impact on people’s mental health, and academic being a stressful career than others, scholars need to do what they can to take care of their mental health and wellbeing during this period. This can involve simple steps such as taking a few days off to relax or to connect with family and friends. I hope you have started planning and hopefully, we have learned some lessons from 2020 and 2021 and will be better prepared and equipped to adjust to whatever the ‘New Normal’ has in store for us in 2022.

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