This book is unique in focusing on emerging and re-emerging diseases as it relates to and threatens all the countries of the world. The problem of emerging and re-emerging diseases knows no boundaries. Lethal microbes of all kinds can move among people and animals, from one country to another—without notice. The problem is clearly severe in developing countries where there is overcrowding, limited drug availability and general ignorance among people. With travel encouraging the transport of microbes, the information in this book will have wide-sweeping benefit, not only for India but also for the world at large. Surveillance and prevention of emerging diseases needs attention on a worldwide basis. Improving antibiotic use requires a global effort. One hopes that bringing an organized focus to the problem will help efforts to improve knowledge and encourage research. It should also help in inculcating practices to reduce spread of emerging infections and prevent development of resistant ones across the globe. What is needed is a clear idea of the magnitude of the problem and what efforts can be made to address it. Our book plans to provide a comprehensive account of the causes of a rise in emerging and re-emerging diseases and proceeds to discuss the pathogens responsible for the same. The diseases discussed include emerging and re- emerging diseases as per the World Health Organization list published in 2015 and also those most prevalent in Asian countries. Different surveillance strategies and Government initiatives to win the battle over these pathogens is discussed in the last chapter.
To understand the challenges posed by Emerging and re-emerging diseases a broader view of microbiology is necessary, one that builds on the approaches of the past, but addresses the problems of the present and of the future. The curriculum for microbiology keeps on changing to keep pace with evolving microbes. Microbiology is no longer taught as a separate discipline, but is integrated with pathology, immunology and clinical studies. However, a basic text that includes all the above disciplines is necessary. We hope this book gives medical and microbiology students an exciting, readable and informative insight of the threat posed by emerging and re-emerging pathogens and the human initiatives to combat these pathogens. It is important to remember, microbes have no geographic preference—they can cause deadly infectious diseases in countries throughout the world.
Contents –
1. Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases — ‘Gone today, here Tomorrow?’
2. Tracking the Causes — ‘Respect Existence or Expect Resistance’
PART I: DISEASES NEEDING ‘URGENT’ R&D AS PER WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
3. Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever — ‘The Raging Fever from Crimea to Congo’
4. Ebola — ‘A Bloody Death’
5. Marburg Virus Disease — ‘The MARVellously Mysterious Enemy’
6. Lassa Fever — ‘The Multimammate Rat Menace’
7. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) -‘The Camel Flu’
8. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) — ‘Crossing Xenographic and Geographic Boundaries’
9. Nipah Virus Infection — ‘Barking Pig Syndrome’
10. Rift Valley Fever — ‘The Sub-Saharan Africa Fever’
PART II: DISEASES DESIGNATED AS ‘SERIOUS’ BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
11. Chikungunya — ‘Illness of the Bended Walker’
12. Severe Fever with Thrombocytopaenia Syndrome (SFTS)
13. Zika — ‘Avoiding a Birth Defect Epidemic’
PART III: EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING DISEASES — INDIAN CONTEXT
14. Dengue — ‘Break Bone Fever’
15. H1N1 (Swine Influenza) — ‘When Pigs Fly’
16. H5N1 (Avian Influenza)- ‘Creating no-Fly Zones’
17. Leptospirosis — ‘Autumn Fever’
18. Japanese Encephalitis — ‘Fighting the Bite’
19. Emergence of Drug Resistance Organisms — ‘Survival of the Fittest’
20. Drug Resistant Tuberculosis — “The Ticking Time-Bomb”
21. Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) — ‘The End of the Road for Antibiotics’
22. Food-Borne Illnesses — Campylobacteriosis and Listeriosis
23. Government Initiatives and Strategies for Combating Emerging Infections in India
24. Prions — Infectious Disease Agents of the Future
25. Concluding Remarks
Centres and Facilities for Research / Diagnosis / Treatment of Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases
