Emerging Pandemic Diseases: How We Got To COVID-19
Autor
Morens, David M.
Fauci, Anthony S.
Institución
Resumen
Infectious diseases prevalent in humans and animals are caused by
pathogens that once emerged from other animal hosts. In addition to
these established infections, new infectious diseases periodically
emerge. In extreme cases they may cause pandemics such as COVID19; in other cases, dead end infections or smaller epidemics result.
Established diseases may also re-emerge, for example by extending
geographically or by becoming more transmissible or more pathogenic.
Disease emergence reflects dynamic balances and imbalances, within
complex globally-distributed ecosystems comprised of humans,
animals, pathogens, and the environment. Understanding these
variables is a necessary step in controlling future devastating disease
emergences.