Section 21.

4 Emerging Infectious Diseases

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Objectives

Define the term emerging disease.

Identify five reasons why diseases emerge.

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Section 21.4 Emerging Infectious Diseases

Health Stats The map shows how dengue fever, a viral disease carried
by mosquitoes, has spread since 1960.

Should the United States be concerned about dengue

fever? Explain.

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Section 21.4 Emerging Infectious Diseases

What Is an Emerging Disease?

• An epidemic (ep uh DEM ik) is an unusually high
occurrence of a disease in a certain place during a
certain time period.
• When an epidemic affects many areas of the world, it
is sometimes called a pandemic.
• An emerging disease is an infectious disease that
has become increasingly common in humans within
the last 20 years or threatens to become more
common in the near future.

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For: Updates on modern epidemics

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Why Do Diseases Emerge?

• Diseases can emerge when humans come into
contact with infected animals; pathogens become
resistant to existing drugs; or people lack
appropriate immunizations.
• The increased frequency of international travel and a
global food supply can enable emerging diseases to
spread very quickly.

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Contact With Infected Animals

• Some diseases that are common in animals can
spread to humans.
• There have been recent cases in Asia in which
people have become sick after being exposed to
infected birds.
• Scientists fear that another deadly flu epidemic could
result if the virus takes on a form that can spread
easily between people.

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Drug Resistance
• Some diseases are caused by pathogens that can
mutate, or change, over time.
• Sometimes these mutations result in a strain, or type,
of pathogen that no longer responds to medicine.

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Lack of Immunization
• Diseases that were common many years ago can
pose a threat again if people don’t get the
proper immunizations.
• The polio virus remains a threat in several Asian and
African countries because many people in those
countries have not received the vaccine.

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International Travel
• Globalization refers to the fact that people around the
world are no longer geographically isolated from
each other.
• Not only can people travel much more easily, but so
can any pathogens that live in their bodies.
• World travelers could spread the pathogen around
the world in a short amount of time.

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Global Food Supply

• Food also travels around the world.
• If a pathogen is present in a food product, it can
spread quickly.

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Vocabulary
epidemic An unusually high occurrence of a disease in a
certain place during a certain time period.
emerging disease An infectious disease that has become more
common within the last 20 years or threatens to
become more common in the near future.

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QuickTake Quiz

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For: Chapter 21 self test

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End of Section 21.4

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