Abstract
“Ingenuity, knowledge, and organization alter but cannot cancel humanity's vulnerability to invasion by parasitic forms of life. Infectious disease which antedated the emergence of humankind will last as long as humanity itself, and will surely remain, as it has been hitherto, one of the fundamental parameters and determinants of human history.” - William H. McNeill Plagues and People
Complacency leads to vulnerability. As a species we have always been susceptible to microbial attacks, for centuries we've played a game of cat and mouse as we‘ve co-existed with a challenging nemesis. SARS-CoV-2 has laid bare many shortcomings, not least the inequities of global resources and opportunities. If we are to be better prepared for future threats it is essential that we implement continuous, systematic, proactive monitoring and surveillance programs of emerging pathogens. It is imperative we stay ahead of the infectious curve, pinpointing outbreaks at source at the earliest opportunity, detecting and analyzing emerging patterns in real time and using the data to create predictive models that will inform, forecast, and enable a constant state of preparedness. It also involves a frank assessment of global political accountability and culpability. We've been asleep at the wheel and regrettably our global defense systems have been woefully inadequate, exposing us to the sorts of devastating effects the pandemic unleashed upon the world.
It is inevitable there will be novel zoonotic diseases coming down the pike. And if that is not worrying enough, the WHO has recently declared monkeypox a global health emergency, the AIDS pandemic has also been negatively impacted and is at a critical juncture, childhood vaccinations across many Asian and African geographies are on red alert due to a precipitous drop in inoculations, and we're witnessing an alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
But there is cause for optimism. We hear from some of the individuals working in the infectious disease ecosystem who are committed to building the necessary foundations and implementing the requisite methodologies to deal with these viral invaders. Whether it is in the field of biosecurity, surveillance, data modelling, vaccine research, therapeutic and diagnostic development – the world needs to coalesce and develop a coordinated approach across all disciplines and across all borders. As William Haseltine aptly sums up in his column, the question isn't whether it's achievable, it's whether there is the political will to do it.
Damian Doherty
Editor in Chief
