Communicable Diseases

Sanitation, food control, vaccines, and antibiotics have reduced the toll of communicable diseases, saving millions of lives. Smallpox was eradicated in 1977, and poliomyelitis eradication is close. Measles mortality has reduced drastically yet outbreaks occur where immunization lags. HIV/AIDS emerged in the 1980s, grew into a global pandemic costing millions of lives, and despite progress remains a major global health issue. Malaria and tuberculosis still cause millions of deaths. Influenza pandemics with new, deadly versions continue to appear. Neglected tropical diseases are responding to global donor efforts. Newly emerging diseases move to new regions and became endemic, and deadly localized hemorrhagic fevers threaten to transmit more widely. Rapid mass travel allows infectious diseases in isolated villages to quickly become global threats. New strains of viruses, antibiotic resistance, and microorganisms causing chronic diseases are challenges for infectious disease control requiring continuing political, financial, and scientific support, and much tenacity.