An epidemic is the rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less. For example, in meningococcal infections, an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic.
In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease in a particular time and place. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire continent. Two linked cases of a rare infectious disease may be sufficient to constitute an outbreak. Outbreaks include epidemics, which term is normally only used for infectious diseases, as well as diseases with an environmental origin, such as a water or foodborne disease. They may affect a region in a country or a group of countries. Pandemics are near-global disease outbreaks.
An orthohantavirus is a single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA virus in the Hantaviridae family of the order Bunyavirales. These viruses normally infect rodents, but do not cause disease in them. Humans may become infected with hantaviruses through contact with rodent urine, saliva, or feces. Some strains cause potentially fatal diseases in humans, such as hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), also known as hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), while others have not been associated with known human disease. HPS (HCPS) is a "rare respiratory illness associated with the inhalation of aerosolized rodent excreta contaminated by hantavirus particles."
Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions.
Julie Louise Gerberding, is an American infectious disease expert and the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an independent agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. The Centre was established in 2004 and is located in Solna, Sweden.
An emerging infectious disease (EID) is an infectious disease whose incidence has increased in the past 20 years and could increase in the near future. Emerging infections account for at least 12% of all human pathogens. EIDs are caused by newly identified species or strains that may have evolved from a known infection or spread to a new population or to an area undergoing ecologic transformation, or be reemerging infections, like drug resistant tuberculosis. Nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are emerging in hospitals, and extremely problematic in that they are resistant to many antibiotics. Of growing concern are adverse synergistic interactions between emerging diseases and other infectious and non-infectious conditions leading to the development of novel syndemics. Many emerging diseases are zoonotic - an animal reservoir incubates the organism, with only occasional transmission into human populations.
An occupational hazard is a hazard experienced in the workplace. Occupational hazards can encompass many types of hazards, including chemical hazards, biological hazards (biohazards), psychosocial hazards, and physical hazards. In the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conduct workplace investigations and research addressing workplace health and safety hazards resulting in guidelines. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes enforceable standards to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. In the EU a similar role is taken by EU-OSHA.
David L. Heymann was appointed Chairman of the Board of the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) in April 2009. He remained Chairman of the Board when HPA was merged into Public Health England (PHE) in 2013. At the same time, he started and became Head and Senior Fellow of the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House, London and in 2010 joined the faculty at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology.
The National Centre for Infectious Diseases, previously known as the Communicable Disease Centre, is a division of Tan Tock Seng Hospital at Moulmein Road in Novena, Singapore.
Thailand has had "a long and successful history of health development," according to the World Health Organization. Life expectancy is averaged at seventy years. Non-communicable diseases form the major burden of morbidity and mortality, while infectious diseases including malaria and tuberculosis, as well as traffic accidents, are also important public health issues.
The Bioinformatics Resource Centers (BRCs) are a group of five Internet-based research centers established in 2004 and funded by NIAID The BRCs were formed in response to the threats posed by emerging and re-emerging pathogens, particularly Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Category A, B, and C pathogens, and their potential use in bioterrorism. The intention of NIAID in funding these bioinformatics centers is to assist researchers involved in the experimental characterization of such pathogens and the formation of drugs, vaccines, or diagnostic tools to combat them.
The American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) is a peer-reviewed journal for empirical research findings, opinion pieces, and methodological developments in the field of epidemiological research. The current Editor-in-Chief is Dr. Moyses Szklo.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. It is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus is related to the dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Since the 1950s, it has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. From 2007 to 2016, the virus spread eastward, across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to the 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic.
In the United States, the National Malaria Eradication Program (NMEP) was launched on 1 July 1947. This federal program – with state and local participation – had succeeded in eradicating malaria in the United States by 1951.
The Centers for Disease Control is the agency of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan that combats the threat of communicable diseases.
