Preface

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a reminder to the world that infectious diseases, especially those caused by viruses, are still an important part of medicine and public health. As of 6 December 2021, the World Health Organization's Global Dashboard reported 265,194,191 confirmed cases with 5,254,115 deaths (https://covid19.who.int/). The outbreak has undermined public trust in health authorities who have had to change their recommendations as new data and analyses became available. Initial expert advice that masks were not helpful has morphed into mask mandates. Politicians have criticized the public health actions of their opponents, then quickly adopted the same actions upon a change in political power. New technologies that utilize advanced biomedical procedures have provided effective vaccines and treatments in remarkably short periods of time but have also generated distrust leading to vaccine hesitancy on the part of some groups.

In the meantime, viruses and their associated diseases continue to emerge. Many people would be surprised at the number of diseases that have been linked to obscure viruses, many of which have emerged only since the development of technologies that have enabled researchers to identify the agents. **Table 1** is a partial list of viruses and viral diseases that have been listed by researchers as emerging. One surprising issue associated with this list is the number of diseases transmitted by vectors, especially ticks. This conclusion suggests that much greater emphasis should be placed on environmental sampling to determine just how many viruses present a hazard to the global population. At the same time, there is much work to be done in the detection, prevention, monitoring, and treatment of viral diseases in the human population. New technologies have allowed successful treatment of viral disease with an efficacy undreamed of just a few years ago. Better surveillance systems have allowed researchers to detect emerging diseases sooner and monitor the developing outbreak on a daily basis. Nevertheless, health authorities still find themselves in the position of using public health measures developed more than 100 years ago to deal with the Spanish influenza pandemic. Those measures include social distancing, masking, contact-tracing, and controversial issues such as closures of businesses, restaurants, and public gathering sites. Many of the measures being used are not well documented. For instance, in the United States, it is common for authorities to recommend maintaining a distance of six feet between individuals as a social distancing measure. Where did this recommendation originate? Is it actually effective or should the distance be greater? The reality is that much is still unknown about the coronavirus, other viruses, and how to interrupt their transmission. Much is unknown about effective prevention and treatment measures as well. This book provides an opportunity to address some of the gaps in information regarding viral disease outbreaks. The content is not limited to human viral disease, though most of the chapters address some element of human disease. Subjects range from detection to monitoring to treatment. Most of the chapters report some new information, though some of the chapters take a historical perspective. The science of monitoring viral diseases is one characterized by rapid change, thus this book provides a snapshot of developing information at the time of publication. It documents the rapid changes


#### **Table 1.**

*Partial list of viral diseases and viruses that have been listed as either emerging and having potential for emergence (mode of transmission) (reference).*

in the sciences of epidemiology, pharmacology, vaccinology, and others. The book could be twenty times as large as it is, so new books and updates on the subject will probably be necessary.

> **David Claborn** Master of Public Health Program, Missouri State University, Springfield, USA

> > **VII**

[1] Abrahao JS, LB de Arruda. 2020. Emerging viruses: surveillance, prevention, Evolution and Control.

[2] Mourya DT, PD Yadav, PT Ullas, SD Bhardwaj, RR Sahay, MS Chadha, AM Shete, S Jadhav, N gupta, RR Gangakhedkar, PK Singh, SK Singh. 2019. Emerging/re-emerging viral diseases and new viruses on the Indian horizon. Indian Journal of Medical

[3] Weaver SC, C Charlier, N Vasilakis, M Lecuit. 2018. Zika, Chikungunya, and other emerging vector-borne viral diseases. Annual Reviews of Medicine

*Viruses* 12: 306.

**References**

Research 149:447-467.

69:395-408.
