Emerging Infectious Diseases--Where in the World?

Science 307 (5713): 1190 , 25 February 2005
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/307/5713/1190b

A preview of a new global map of emerging infectious diseases turns a
common assumption on its head. The map, presented in D.C. by Peter
Daszak of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust
in New York City, spans the years 1940 to 2004 and indicates roughly
500 locations around the world where specific diseases first emerged.
(Red indicates multiple events.) The map suggests that the majority
of emerging diseases originated in Europe, North America, and
Japan--a result that appears to hold up after correcting for
reporting biases, according to Daszak and his co-workers. The media
and funding organizations tend to assume that most infectious
diseases emerge in the tropics because AIDS, severe acute respiratory
syndrome, Ebola, and other high-profile diseases began there, says
Daszak. But the preliminary map suggests that food-borne infections
and drug-resistant microbes in the northern industrialized
countries--the result of factors such as agricultural practices, the
overuse of antibiotics, and international travel--are a more
significant public health threat. "It's very counterintuitive to what
most people think about emerging diseases," says Joshua Rosenthal of
the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health.
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Received on Thu, 24 Feb 2005 23:19:34 -0500