Infectious Diseases (Human and Animal)

Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes (WHO, 2019).

Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that has symptoms similar to those of smallpox (WHO, 2019).

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by MERS-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) (WHO, 2019).

Tuberculosis (TB) is a curable bacterial infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that most commonly affects the lungs. It causes national epidemics of varied severity worldwide. Forms of TB that are resistant to treatment – multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) – are public health crises and threaten health security worldwide (WHO, 2020).

Lassa fever is a zoonotic disease associated with acute and potentially fatal haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus. It is associated with epidemics particularly where it is endemic in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria (WHO, 2017).

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a rare but severe zoonotic viral infectious disease caused by the Ebola virus. It can lead to haemorrhagic fever and is often fatal in humans. EVD can trigger epidemics with high casefatality rates (WHO, 2020).

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral infection caused by the CCHF virus. It causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks and epidemics (WHO, 2013).

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases of malaria worldwide and the estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 405,000 (WHO, 2020).

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that is caused by a virus of the Flaviviridae family and transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, A. albopictus (WHO, 2020).

Diphtheria is a widespread severe infectious disease caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae and the toxin they produce. It is a potentially life-threatening, vaccine-preventable disease that primarily affects the throat and upper airways and has the potential for epidemics (WHO, 2018).