The current disease load is only a part of the problem.2 New diseases are continually emerging, with COVID-19 being the most dramatic recent example, as humans come into contact with novel pathogens and global transport networks facilitate their rapid spread. Environmental degradation is a potential contributor to this emergence through human infiltration and destruction of natural habitats for increased trading of wildlife and intensive livestock farming, among other activities.
Alongside this, warming temperatures and other climatic shifts are forecast to move vector organisms, such as mosquitoes and ticks, into new regions.3 This will intensify disease pressure on communities that are already struggling with other stressors. Thawing of Arctic permafrost due to climate change represents another potential source of new and dangerous diseases.4
Given the difficulty of addressing these underlying factors in the short term, our overall aim should be to move from treating and managing disease outbreaks to preventing or at least detecting spillover events early, and containing them. There are many specialised areas of infectious disease science — such as accelerated vaccine development, and genetic sequencing in pursuit of vector control technologies — in which considerable progress remains to be made. There is a tantalising prospect of preventing future pandemics before they take hold.
Doing this will entail tackling infectious diseases in their broader context as part of a social-ecological system: for example, understanding when diseases are likely to spread from wild animals to humans as a result of environmental changes that are in turn influenced by social, economic and political trends; or understanding when socioeconomic conditions promote the spread of infections such as cholera. The complementary banners of One Health and Planetary Health offer frameworks to understand disease in this way.
SELECTION OF GESDA BEST READS AND KEY REPORTS:
In January 2023, Canadian researchers published a critical examination entitled Respiratory infectious disease outbreaks among people experiencing homelessness: a systematic review of prevention and mitigation strategies. Highlighting the exacerbated risk faced by the homeless population during respiratory outbreaks, including COVID-19, this review offers invaluable strategies to guide future public health responses. In May, Spanish researchers highlighted the intricate relationship between humans, animals, and their shared environment in an article on the Epidemiology of Wildlife Infectious Diseases. Emphasising the One Health approach, this work underlines the rising rate of zoonotic diseases and the crucial need for cross-disciplinary efforts to preserve both human health and biodiversity. Leveraging artificial intelligence in the fight against infectious diseases, published by US researchers in July, showcases the transformative potential of AI in modern healthcare. By fusing AI with synthetic and systems biology, the article presents groundbreaking solutions for drug discovery, diagnostics, and in-depth insights into infection biology, setting the stage for enhanced responses to pandemics and infectious outbreaks.
