Emerging Infectious Diseases in 2012: 20 Years after the Institute of Medicine Report

Morens, David M.; Fauci, Anthony S.

The term EID and the concepts of newly emerging and reemerging infectious diseases have recently become much more widely appreciated. The 1992 IOM report led to rapid and heightened awareness of this issue in the scientific, public health, medical, and lay communities. For example, both the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health released EID research and response plans (9, 10) . In 1995, the CDC established an EID-oriented scientific journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases. Now in its 18th year, the journal has published nearly 10,000 articles and has become standard reading for many in the disciplines of microbiology, clinical infectious diseases, public health, and allied medical fields. Other microbiology and general medical journals emphasizing EIDs have been established, e.g., PLoS Pathogens, or expanded their coverage of EIDs, e.g., the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Vaccine, while mBio and other journals published by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) have remained leaders in publishing important EIDrelated research.