Highlights from the 6th International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance (IMED 2016) Vienna, Austria from Nov 3 to 7, 2016

Abstract

Emerging infectious diseases remain at the center of the world's attention. The current threats posed by Zika, Yellow Fever, MERS-CoV, and pandemic influenza, the recent Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa, and the realization that new infectious diseases may be recognized at any time, in any place, has dramatically increased public awareness of infectious diseases and underscored the need to understand emerging pathogens. As with each prior iteration, IMED 2016 fully embodied the “One Health” model of emerging diseases, recognizing the commonality of human, environmental and animal health by bringing together human and veterinary health clinicians, scientists, and policy makers from more than 100 countries. With more than 90 talks and 400 poster presentations, it's impossible to adequately summarize all of the important insights conveyed at IMED 2016. Here is a sampling of some of the topics that caught our interest.