PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Enterovirus. Tuberculosis. Cholera. Measles. Various strains of the flu and hepatitis. The number of infectious disease outbreaks and the number of unique illnesses causing them appear to be increasing around the globe, according to a new Brown University analysis of more than 12,000 outbreaks affecting 44 million people worldwide over the last 33 years.
Data Science Institute
Center for Computational Molecular Biology
Date
February 2, 2015
Infection outbreaks, unique diseases rising since 1980
Ebola has a lot of company. In a novel database now made publicly available, Brown University researchers found that since 1980 the world has seen an increasing number of infectious disease outbreaks from an increasing number of sources. The good news, however, is that they are affecting a shrinking proportion of the world population.