Introduction

At a number of points in the twentieth century, bold proclamations were made to the effect that the era of infectious diseases was coming to a close, and that humanity would soon no longer be afflicted by the microbes and viruses which had plagued humanity hitherto. The most notable of these comments came in 1962, when the noted virologist Sir McFarland Burnett stated that “[b]y the end of the Second World War it was possible to say that almost all of the major practical problems of dealing with infectious disease had been solved”. A few years later, in 1970, the Surgeon-General of the United States of America, William H. Stewart, claimed that it was “time to close the book on infectious diseases, declare the war against pestilence won, and shift national resources to such chronic problems as cancer and heart disease”.