Future directions for public health research in emerging infectious diseases

Abstract

Infectious diseases remain responsible for significant global morbidity and mortality, and diseases emerge and re-emerge in sometimes unpredictable locations and at unpredictable times. Although much is known about how to detect and respond to existing infections, more public health research is needed to predict the likelihood of their emergence and spread, and to improve the precision and timeliness of public health responsiveness. To achieve this, further research is required to develop pathogen genomics from more than just a tool for outbreak investigation to one that will identify and quantify catalysts for emergence within a given population. More research is also needed to develop digital epidemiology techniques to identify syndromic clusters earlier. Beyond human public health, appreciating how animals and the environment affect disease emergence presents us with a new challenge: to develop truly interdisciplinary research that encompasses all aspects of pathogen surveillance and response. This includes understanding why microorganisms cross species to cause diseases (e.g. from animals to humans), factors that drive spread of infections, and systems research that will result in development of joint responses to outbreaks from different professional, government and international groups. Only then will we be better prepared for the next outbreak.