China's great wall, Israel's Bar Lev Line, and passive infectious disease surveillance

Mil Med Res. 2014 Jul 21:1:15. doi: 10.1186/2054-9369-1-15. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Emerging infectious diseases are some of modern society's greatest threats. Like some great construction efforts designed to protect mankind, current public health measures against these emerging pathogens have not always been successful. This paper highlights the importance of embracing new interdisciplinary approaches towards emerging pathogen threats. One such approach, termed One Health, is quickly being embraced by professional organizations and public health institutions across the world as a way forward. This paper briefly discusses the above problems and preliminary steps taken by Chinese academic institutions to embrace the One Health approach.

Keywords: Communicable diseases; Emerging; Epidemiology; One health; Public health; Zoonoses.