title: The interconnected and cross-border nature of risks posed by infectious diseases.
abstract: Infectious diseases can constitute public health emergencies of international concern when a pathogen arises, acquires new characteristics, or is deliberately released, leading to the potential for loss of human lives as well as societal disruption. A wide range of risk drivers are now known to lead to and/or exacerbate the emergence and spread of infectious disease, including global trade and travel, the overuse of antibiotics, intensive agriculture, climate change, high population densities, and inadequate infrastructures, such as water treatment facilities. Where multiple risk drivers interact, the potential impact of a disease outbreak is amplified. The varying temporal and geographic frequency with which infectious disease events occur adds yet another layer of complexity to the issue. Mitigating the emergence and spread of infectious disease necessitates mapping and prioritising the interdependencies between public health and other sectors. Conversely, during an international public health emergency, significant disruption occurs not only to healthcare systems but also to a potentially wide range of sectors, including trade, tourism, energy, civil protection, transport, agriculture, and so on. At the same time, dealing with a disease outbreak may require a range of critical sectors for support. There is a need to move beyond narrow models of risk to better account for the interdependencies between health and other sectors so as to be able to better mitigate and respond to the risks posed by emerging infectious disease.
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden; Global Public Health Unit, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; jonathan.suk@ecdc.europa.eu.
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Suk
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Cangh
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beauté
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Svetla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsolova
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pharris
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciotti
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Semenza
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005511:Food Handling; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014195:Travel; D014887:Weather
keywords: Ebola; climate change; epidemic; globalization; health determinants; infectious disease