Emerging diseases

Disease information

The term emerging disease refers to infections or diseases that are new to a geographical location or are already known but occur in excess of their expected frequencies. We often discuss tropical diseases in this context. These typically occur in the tropical regions but can also occur elsewhere say due to transmission by returning travelers. Under the umbrella of emerging diseases, we talk about:

• Mosquito-borne disease like Zika virus, dengue and Chikungunya which generally cause febrile disease with flu-like symptoms. However in severe cases, complications such as encephalitis and hemorrhage can also develop.
• Parasitic infections such as those caused by Echinococcus, Trypanosoma, Plasmodium, Strongyloides etc. These cause highly variable symptoms and sometimes develop after months or years as is seen with echinococcosis.