Pathogen Surveillance

Many infectious diseases caused by different pathogens in different parts of the world have been effectively or basically controlled throughout human history, due mainly to effective vaccine application, improvement of sanitation conditions, infection control, food hygiene, and nutritional improvement. When people are overoptimistic about the control of infectious diseases, new and emerging infectious diseases reemerge. For example, schistosomiasis, which was well controlled in the twentieth century, has resurged in the Yangtze River Basin since 2000 due to natural factors such as environmental changes and floods. At the same time, parasitic diseases with slower transmission, such as Clonorchis sinensis infections and echinococcosis (Echinococcus disease), have risen from year to year, bringing the number of victims and corresponding disease burden to the highest level in the world. The spread of these diseases not only will undermine social and economic development in one area but also may affect the economic stability of the country and even the world. Therefore, to maintain public safety in a region, the surveillance of infectious diseases should be placed on the agenda. Pathogen surveillance is the most important element of the surveillance of parasitic diseases.