Proceedings from the Fourth Mesoamerican Symposium “Dr. Roberto Navarro López” on Emerging Zoonotic Disease and Arboviruses: Commenting Insights and Research Findings

Zoonotic pathogens such as arboviruses, arenaviruses, filoviruses, coronaviruses, highly pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) viruses, vesiculoviruses, and many others are emerging and reemerging worldwide, jeopardizing global veterinary and public health. Parasitic diseases such as visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis (Trypanosoma cruzi), myiasis, and river blindness (Onchocerca volvulus) are also paramount for public health in the Americas and elsewhere. In the fall 2024, a group of experts convened in Chiapas, Mexico, for the Fourth Mesoamerican Symposium "Dr. Roberto Navarro López" on Arboviruses and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases. Here, we highlight the importance of some zoonotic pathogens and parasites affecting human health that are being impacted by anthropogenic activities. In this context, there are drivers such as changes in climate and landscape transformations, unsound agricultural practices, and wildlife niche replacement delivering numerous opportunities for zoonotic pathogens to emerge and threaten human health and food security.