Study shows that infectious diseases resist globalisation

Human infectious diseases are unlikely to reach the same level of globalisation as the people who transport them, according to new research. More international travel than at any time in history means that human infectious diseases have a greater opportunity to hitch a ride with human travellers and develop into international epidemics, like SARS, MERS and HIV. However, a new study finds that human air traffic still plays a relatively minor role in explaining which diseases occur where. Instead, diseases remain restricted by physical and ecological barriers, like oceans, environmental conditions like climate, or the presence of other species that they depend on, such as insect transmitters or other animal hosts. The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by Dr Kris Murray, from the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, and colleagues from Boston Children’s Hospital Informatics Program and EcoHealth Alliance, both in the...