Global Scans · Global Trends in Infectious Diseases · Weekly Summary

• [New] Europe is experiencing a sharp rise in heat-related deaths, unsafe working hours, food insecurity, and climate sensitive infectious disease risks. Lancet Countdown
• [New] Biological threats, which range from naturally occurring outbreaks of infectious disease to intentional acts of bioterrorism, pose unique dangers to public health and national security in the United States. PubMed Central (PMC)
• [New] Many are now living precariously in displacement sites and informal settlements close to the northern and southern borders or in Mexico City, with little or no access to services and at constant risk of sexual violence, kidnapping and infectious disease. Mixed Migration Centre
• Over the next five to ten years, AI will achieve, among other things, the reliable prevention and treatment of nearly all natural infectious disease, the elimination of most cancer, the prevention of Alzheimer's and a doubling of the human lifespan. Forbes
• Global life expectancy has risen sharply since 1950 but is projected to grow more slowly in coming decades as aging populations and chronic disease replace infectious disease as primary drivers of mortality. World Population Review
• As infectious disease outbreaks become more frequent they are also becoming more damaging, warning that pandemic risk is outpacing investments in preparedness and the world is not yet meaningfully safer. The Guardian
• The Novo Nordisk Foundation is seeking catalytic, use-inspired research that can unlock future medical countermeasures for major human infectious disease threats, with an explicit emphasis on originality, feasibility, translatability, and globally implementable tools. Impact Funding
• Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the coming years due to expanding healthcare infrastructure, increasing government focus on infectious disease preparedness, and growing investments in life sciences research. Precedence Research
• Vessels originating from Indonesia, where the highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease are now prevalent, present a serious biosecurity risk to Australia's livestock herd. Beef Central
• Increasing global interconnectivity means multiplying global populations will travel more often, more quickly, and more broadly than ever before, acting as vectors for rapid global infectious disease spread. FP Analytics
• CEPI is developing a biospecimen sourcing initiative of samples from survivors of infectious disease outbreaks, which will provide a practical example of how to enable timely, ethical access to clinical specimens for immunoassay development and vaccine development. Health Policy Watch
• With rising urbanization and infectious disease threats, Latin America is increasingly relying on lateral flow assays to strengthen surveillance and response capabilities, particularly in hard-to-reach populations. Market Data Forecast
• Researchers from Johns Hopkins, Oxford, Stanford, Columbia, and NYU are calling for guardrails on certain infectious disease datasets that could enable AI to design deadly viruses. Just Security
• Thousands of Australians are at risk of catching a highly infectious disease, with Melbourne Airport among dozens of exposure sites listed by Victorian health authorities. Sky News Australia
• Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new digital platform that helps governments anticipate infectious disease outbreaks and prepare resources in advance. ICT&health
• Heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths and can exacerbate underlying illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health issues, asthma, and can increase the risk of accidents and transmission of some infectious diseases. Euronews
• Barriers to infectious diseases may not be disappearing anytime soon, but the tools to quickly identify and initiate prevention measures provide hope in reducing infectious disease burden in 2026. BlueDot
• The loss of US funding could widen budget gaps and weaken international infectious disease surveillance capacity. Pharmacally -
• Using Comparative Advantage In the consolidation at State, U.S. national interests such as epidemiology and the overall detection, management, and control of various emerging infectious disease threats should remain a priority. FlippingBook
• 47% of emerging infectious disease risk across Africa is concentrated there, with another 24% distributed across Cameroon, Gabon, and Mozambique. GlobalRPH

Last updated: 15 July 2026