title: Prospects for emerging infections in East and southeast Asia 10 years after severe acute respiratory syndrome.
abstract: It is 10 years since severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged, and East and Southeast Asia retain a reputation as a hot spot of emerging infectious diseases. The region is certainly a hot spot of socioeconomic and environmental change, and although some changes (e.g., urbanization and agricultural intensification) may reduce the probability of emerging infectious diseases, the effect of any individual emergence event may be increased by the greater concentration and connectivity of livestock, persons, and products. The region is now better able to detect and respond to emerging infectious diseases than it was a decade ago, but the tools and methods to produce sufficiently refined assessments of the risks of disease emergence are still lacking. Given the continued scale and pace of change in East and Southeast Asia, it is vital that capabilities for predicting, identifying, and controlling biologic threats do not stagnate as the memory of SARS fades.
authors.affiliation: Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, 78 Giai Phong St, Dong Da District, Hanoi, Vietnam. peter.horby@gmail.com
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Horby
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oshitani
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D003132:Commerce; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history; D017753:Ecosystem; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D014943:Global Health; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D058751:Livestock; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history; D014195:Travel; D014507:Urbanization
keywords: East Asia; SARS; Southeast Asia; animal health; bacteria; emerging infections; influenza; influenza A(H5N1); respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome; viruses