INTRODUCTION
Infectious diseases have emerged and circulated worldwide since the development of civilizations and global commerce throughout human history. Indeed, the spread of infectious diseases is not limited to national borders [1]. The communicable disease burden worldwide is surprisingly high due to respiratory pathogens with airborne transmission. The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 demonstrated the necessity of studying respiratory infectious diseases and the airborne transmission regularity.
Various infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue, are always affected by climate change. The number of microbiota in spring and summer is greater compared to autumn and winter. Effective prevention and control of infectious diseases depends on a thorough understanding of the entire infectious process. Maintaining regular surveillance is essential for reducing the spread of infectious diseases and managing treatment.
To maximize visualization of the region and pattern of infectious diseases development, we utilized the Shusi Tech Global Epidemic Information Monitoring System to conduct a systematic and comprehensive analysis of global infectious diseases from April-June 2024. (Fig 1).
DENGUE
Warm climate favors mosquitoes capable of transmitting arboviruses. The increase in vectors, such as mosquitoes, might lead to a heavier spread of infectious diseases. For example, dengue fever is considered the most important virus transmitted by mosquitoes globally.
According to WHO data, several countries around the world experienced dengue outbreaks from April-June 2024. Topping the list of dengue outbreaks was Afghanistan, which reported approximately 4,412,392 cumulative suspected cases of dengue, followed by Brazil with >2,600,000 cases. Additionally, the incidence of dengue outbreaks in Mexico should not be overlooked as well during the past 3 months (Fig 2).
MPOX
Monkeypox has become a major public health issue worldwide [2] that frequently occurs in Africa. Monkeypox was mainly concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil from April-June 2024 (Fig 3).
Cholera
Throughout underdeveloped and developing countries, cholera continues to cause morbidity and mortality. The cumulative suspected cases of cholera concentrated in Afghanistan and Pakistan with cumulative deaths reported in Comoros rising rapidly as well over the past 3 months (Fig 4).
INFLUENZA
The incidence of influenza mainly centered in Australia and the United States. The cumulative suspected cases of influenza in the United States have decreased but still rank first in the last 3 months compared to other countries (Fig 5).
MEASLES
Measles still rages across many African countries despite increased vaccination coverage. An efficient strategy to eliminate measles includes strengthening surveillance. According to the collected measles incidence data from April-June 2024, the cumulative suspected cases were mainly located in Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The highest number of confirmed cases was reported from Burkina Faso with 362 cases between 29 April and 5 December 2024 (Table 1). Cutting off contact with patients and their families is the key to preventing measles. It is also necessary to be in good health and receive the measles vaccine on time.
Worldwide measles cases reported from April-June 2024.
| Record period | Location | Cumulative suspected cases (confirmed cases) reported during the record period | Cumulative deaths reported during the record period | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1/2024-20/4/2024 | Afghanistan | 18744 | WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean | |
| 21/04/2024-27/04/2024 | 1569 | 4 | ||
| 28/04/2024-04/05/2024 | 1530 | 2 | ||
| 12/05/2024-18/05/2024 | 1681 | 6 | ||
| 19/05/2024-25/05/2024 | 1723 | |||
| 26/05/2024-01/06/2024 | 1780 | |||
| 09/06/2024-15/06/2024 | 1548 | 6 | ||
| 1/1/2024-28/4/2024 | Burkina Faso | 8315 | 39 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 29/04/2024-12/05/2024 | 913 (362) | |||
| 25/05/2024-01/06/2024 | 170 | |||
| 01/06/2024-09/06/2024 | 134 | |||
| 01/01/2024-06/04/2024 | Chad | 3630 (64) | 11 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 06/04/2024-27/04/2024 | 405 | 4 | ||
| 27/04/2024-12/05/2024 | 518 | 7 | ||
| 25/05/2024-01/06/2024 | 207 | |||
| 15/06/2024-22/06/2024 | 114 | |||
| 01/01/2024-12/05/2024 | Burundi | 7642 | 99 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 04/05/2024-12/05/2024 | 786 | |||
| 15/06/2024-22/06/2024 | 979 | 11 | ||
| 01/01/2024-20/04/2024 | Canada | 65 | Public Health Agency of Canada | |
| 21/04/2024-27/04/2024 | 5 | |||
| 12/05/2024-18/05/2024 | 1 | |||
| 06/04/2024-12/05/2024 | Cameroon | 204 (109) | 17 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 18/05/2024-22/06/2024 | 408 (204) | |||
| 01/01/2024-19/04/2024 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 37304 | 909 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 20/04/2024-12/05/2024 | 5643 | 84 | ||
| 18/05/2024-09/06/2024 | 321 | |||
| 15/06/2024-22/06/2024 | 2152 | 74 | ||
| 01/01/2024-26/04/2024 | Ethiopia | 18353 | 142 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 27/04/2024-12/05/2024 | 2227 | 30 | ||
| 18/05/2024-01/06/2024 | 336 | |||
| 01/01/2024-10/05/2024 | Austria | 419 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/06/2024-11/06/2024 | 446 | |||
| 01/01/2024-03/05/2024 | Morocco | 4661 (1526) | 10 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 04/05/2024-12/05/2024 | 438 (159) | 1 | ||
| 15/06/2024-22/06/2024 | 365 (131) | |||
| 24/02/2024-12/05/2024 | Nigeria | 5103 (2376) | 31 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 27/04/2024-30/05/2024 | United States of America | 18 | The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 31/05/2024-16/06/2024 | United States of America | 5 | ||
| 01/01/2024-14/05/2024 | France | 86 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-05/05/2024 | Hungary | 15 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-14/05/2024 | Denmark | 14 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-12/05/2024 | Romania | 14879 | 15 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 01/01/2024-14/05/2024 | Germany | 274 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-30/04/2024 | Poland | 128 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-13/05/2024 | Ireland | 26 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 30/03/2024-12/05/2024 | Gabon | 31 | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-12/05/2024 | 137 | |||
| 01/01/2024-10/06/2024 | Malaysia | 2008 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 15/06/2024-22/06/2024 | Mauritania | 67 (2) | African Center for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-10/06/2024 | Nepal | 133 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-10/06/2024 | Sri Lanka | 158 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-28/04/2024 | Uganda | 817 | The African Regional Office of WHO | |
| 01/01/2024-10/06/2024 | Yemen | 7307 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-15/05/2024 | Italy | 348 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-10/06/2024 | India | 13618 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 01/01/2024-10/06/2024 | Indonesia | 1392 | European Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
Mumps
The parotitis virus (MuV) causes mumps, which is also known as infectious parotitis or epidemic parotitis, and commonly infects children and adolescents. A seasonal pattern was observed in the incidence of mumps in various geographic areas, with peaks in the late spring and early summer. The cumulative suspected cases of mumps have occurred in Britain and South Korea, and occasionally in Taiwan and Singapore in the past 3 months (Table 2).
Worldwide mumps cases reported from April-June 2024.
| Record period | Location | Cumulative suspected cases (confirmed cases) reported during the record period | Cumulative deaths reported during the record period | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1/2024-20/4/2024 | Afghanistan | 18744 | 94 | WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean |
| 06/05/2024-12/05/2024 | Britain | 74 | British Health and Safety Agency | |
| 15/04/2024-21/04/2024 | 93 | |||
| 29/04/2024-05/05/2024 | 88 | |||
| 27/05/2024-02/06/2024 | 66 | 2713 | ||
| 03/06/2024-09/06/2024 | 84 | 2817 | ||
| 1/1/2024-28/4/2024 | Burkina Faso | 8315 | 39 | Africa Disease Control |
| 1/1/2024-28/4/2024 | Chad | 4035 | 11 | Africa Disease Control |
| 28/04/2024-04/05/2024 | Singapore | 6 | Singapore Ministry of Health | |
| 26/05/2024-01/06/2024 | 6 | 115 | ||
| 02/06/2024-08/06/2024 | 6 | 121 | ||
| 09/06/2024-15/06/2024 | 8 | 129 | ||
| 05/05/2024-11/05/2024 | South Korea | 185 | South Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 12/05/2024-18/05/2024 | 188 | |||
| 02/06/2024-08/06/2024 | 99 | 3059 | ||
| 09/06/2024-15/06/2024 | 178 | 3384 | ||
| 21/04/2024-27/04/2024 | Taiwan, China | 3 | Taiwan, China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| 26/05/2024-01/06/2024 | 9 | 170 | ||
| 09/06/2024-15/06/2024 | 6 | 184 |
SPORADIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The incidence of other infectious diseases occurred sporadically as previously reported. Pertussis, commonly referred to as whooping cough, is an infection caused by the gram-negative coccobacillus, Bordetella pertussis. Despite high vaccine coverage, various countries have experienced a resurgence of pertussis over recent decades even though the global pertussis incidence is still declining. In the past 3 months the incidence of pertussis was primarily located in Britain and South Korea (S1 Table).
Legionnaires’ disease (LD) is an infection caused by Legionella spp. The most common Legionella spp. that are human pathogens are L. micdadei, L. bozemanii, and L. longbeachae. The United States and Europe have reported an increase in Legionella infections in recent years. We found that Hong Kong, especially Taiwan, China, have experienced a small scale of LD outbreaks in the last 3 months (S1 Table).
CONCLUSION
Spring and summer are the peak seasons of infectious disease outbreaks. With the rise in temperatures, some mosquito-borne and intestinal infectious diseases enter the high incidence season. Countries will be vulnerable to viral invasion or exposure to infectious disease epidemics if attention is not paid to exercising regularly and strengthening self-protection.
Insect-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, which have been heavily affected by the climate, have seen large-scale outbreaks in parts of the world. The global epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus JN. 1 variant strain has passed its peak and dropped to a low level. We should be vigilant for infectious disease epidemics and implement precautions in advance, especially before travel. Monitoring and taking effective therapeutic measures for protecting individuals is also essential. In addition, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is good for improving our immunity, which will also play an important role in protecting us from infectious diseases.