AIDS, Avian flu, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika ...what next?

摘要

Complex relationships between humans and animals have created an interface that allowed cross-species transmission, emergence and eventual evolution of a plethora of human pathogens. Until 1900, infectious diseases were the major cause of mortality of humankind, causing an estimated fifty percent of all deaths. In the western world, this decreased to only a few percent, due to the implementation of public health measures and the introduction of vaccines and antimicrobial compounds. This prompted policymakers and scientists to speculate that soon human infectious diseases would be brought under control.