From AIDS to Zika, an alphabet soup of emerging infectious disease outbreaks needs to be everyone’s business, all the time, everywhere.
Cases in point: Cholera’s current surge across Africa where we live and work is defying expectations and predictions. Meanwhile, in northeast United States where our colleagues work on global health security, COVID-19 hospital admissions are climbing while the West Nile virus is now a threat — again, surprisingly so.
Border health — a key strategy under the umbrella of global health security — has become an increasingly urgent priority for those of us who know all too well what most people didn’t begin to grasp until the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged health systems and economies: Pathogens that infect humans with a host of diarrheal and respiratory illnesses, as well as hemorrhagic fevers — remember Ebola? — respect no borders.
About the authors
Tasimba Mhizha
Tasimba Mhizha, Ph.D., is the project manager and lead of laboratory, surveillance and data on the CDC-funded Enhancing Global Health Security program. He has worked in the Zimbabwe health sector for more than eight years.
Thomas Achombwom Vukugah
Thomas Achombwom Vukugah, Ph.D., is the project lead of the CDC-funded Enhancing Global Health Security program and technical adviser for epidemiological surveillance & immunization. Based in Cameroon, he is an advanced public health researcher and holds a doctorate in epidemiology.
