Infectious diseases continue to be a serious burden around the world, in developing and industrialized countries alike. Whether naturally occurring or intentionally inflicted, infections can cause illness, disability, and death in individuals while disrupting whole populations, economies, and governments.  National borders offer trivial impediment to such threats, especially in the highly interconnected and readily traversed "global village" of our time.

The United States has shown leadership in the past by strengthening its own and others' capacities to deal with infectious diseases, but the present reality nevertheless is that public health and medical communities are inadequately prepared. We must do more to improve our ability to prevent, detect, and control emerging, as well as resurging, microbial threats to health.

The report, Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response, points out that the impact of infectious diseases on the United States has only increased.   Compounding the danger posed by infectious diseases are other important trends: the continuing increase in antimicrobial resistance, which has become pervasive not only in the United States but worldwide; the country's diminished capacity to recognize and respond to microbial threats--particularly those originating elsewhere; and the intentional use of biological agents to do harm.

In the report, the Committee

• reviews the current state of knowledge on the emergence of infectious diseases;
• assesses the capacity of the United States to detect and respond to microbial threats to health; and
• identifies  potential challenges and opportunities for public health actions, both global and domestic, to strengthen capabilities in prevention, detection, and response.