Travel, Migration and Emerging Infectious Diseases

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose a significant threat, driven by global commerce, travel, and ecological changes.
• Factors like poverty, urbanization, and globalization may lead to a third epidemiological transition, increasing zoonotic diseases and multidrug-resistant infections.
• Travelers can act as sentinels for epidemics and potentially import EIDs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the role of travelers and migrants in the importation and surveillance of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and multidrug-resistant bacteria.
• To assess the risk associated with EIDs and multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae carriage in travelers and migrants.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on the role of travelers and migrants in disease transmission.
• Risk assessment for EIDs and multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae based on current global trends.

Main Results:

• The risk of importing high-risk EIDs via travelers is considered low.
• The risk of carriage of multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae by travelers is higher, though consequences may be limited.
• The role of migrants in disease importation and as epidemic sentinels appears less significant than previously assumed, though their role in importing multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae requires further evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Travelers may contribute to the spread of multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae, necessitating further research into this risk.
• Migrants' role as sentinels for epidemics is currently limited, contrary to some expectations.
• Public health strategies should consider the nuanced role of both travelers and migrants in the context of global infectious disease dynamics.