New paths for sustainable solutions to tackle global and emerging infectious threats

With the dramatic background of a newly emerged virus (SARS-CoV-2) spreading around the world, Coronavirus and other infectious health threats for the human and animal populations were illustrated and debated in excellent presentations at the IABS meeting 26–28 of February 2020. Historical evidence of pandemics and lessons learned from recent epidemics or epizootics caused by many pathogens (e.g., Ebola, Zika, and African Swine Fever viruses) illustrated the overarching need for close international cooperation. New and old technologies in vaccine development and their use were presented, resulting in a call for greater interaction between the human and the veterinary fields in order to leverage the expertise and knowledge in both human and animal medicine. The One Health concept was also emphasized for eliminating the 59,000 fatal human rabies cases annually attributed to unvaccinated dogs. For preventable, infectious diseases commonly spreading in the poorer regions of the world, a new regulatory approach and governance structure was called for to give access to affordable vaccines. Vaccines were touted as one of the most successful health invention ever introduced; on a similar level to health improvements due to clean water.