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Two infectious threats
to global health

Emerging infectious diseases

Enhanced surveillance and prevention measures

Preventing and controlling emerging infectious diseases is a major public health challenge, particularly in France and Europe, due to their ability to spread rapidly and their potentially serious impact on individuals, healthcare systems, and the economy.

Examples: COVID-19, emergence in France of vector-borne diseases such as Chikungunya and Zika, avian influenza

4th leading cause of death worldwide today

5 million deaths from COVID-19 in 2020/2021

36 new infectious diseases since 2003

35 million deaths from AIDS since 1980

A growing pandemic risk

Climate change, growing travel, and evolving pathogens increase the likelihood of new diseases emerging. It is crucial to maintain constant vigilance, invest in research, and strengthen health systems to detect and respond quickly to potential threats.

« The factors we know to be variables in the mechanics of the emergence and spread of emerging diseases are stable and well understood. Their trends are perfectly described by specialists in the relevant disciplines. It is therefore possible to intervene on these factors in order to anticipate events whose course is currently beyond our control and which will inevitably occur one day or another without warning. By then, it will be too late to do what could have been done before!»

Information report to the FR Senate by Ms. Keller for the delegation on future prospects.

Epidemiological surveillance – COREB

The ID Cluster team relies on epidemiological surveillance provided by the national COREB (Operational Coordination of Epidemic and Biological Risk) mission.

Created in 2015, COREB’s mission is to coordinate the national network of Reference Health Establishments (ESR) dedicated to the care of patients presenting an epidemic or biological risk (REB).
In this context, it regularly issues a selection of REB alerts, based on its epidemiological surveillance, in order to strengthen the vigilance and preparedness of the healthcare system in the face of emerging infectious threats.

Access COREB’s REB epidemiological surveillance

Antimicrobial resistance

What is antimicrobial resistance?

Antimicrobials (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antiparasitics) are drugs used to treat infections caused by microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites). Antimicrobial resistance, or antibiotic resistance, is the phenomenon whereby bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.
This means that the drugs become ineffective because the infectious agents have developed mechanisms to escape them (mutation, production of destructive enzymes, modification of the target, etc.).
It does not concern the human body becoming “resistant” to antibiotics, but rather the bacteria themselves evolving to escape the action of the drugs.

1.3 million deaths
in 2019

Leading cause of death worldwide in 2050

10 million deaths
by 2050

$100 trillion total cost by 2050

A threat to global health

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health issue. The WHO considers antimicrobial resistance to be one of the 10 main threats to global health. It could become the leading cause of death worldwide by 2050 if nothing is done, with an estimated 10 million deaths per year.

But this is not an abstract threat, nor is it confined to hospitals or developing countries. It affects us all, starting today. Without coordinated action, it could undo decades of medical progress, and infections that were once easy to treat could once again become lethal.

« Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill. »

Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security

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