Emerging Viral Diseases of Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific

Conference PresentationsWith a few exceptions, most interest and attention regarding emerging viral diseases in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific have been directed at zoonotic and vectorborne diseases.However, other viral diseases have also been prominent and will be mentioned briefly.Enterovirus 71, for example, one of the common causes of hand, foot, and mouth disease, has caused a number of regional epidemics that have included cases of encephalitis.It is also not possible to discuss emerging viruses without briefly referring to HIV infection and AIDS in the region.Several reviews have described the emergence of viruses in one or more countries in the region (1-8).Building on these earlier papers, this article will provide an up-to-date summary of the major viruses and their recent outbreaks (Figure). Vector-borne Viral Disease AgentsDengue viruses and Japanese encephalitis (JE) viruses are the major vector-borne disease agents in the Asia-Pacific region, with Ross River, Chikungunya, and Barmah Forest viruses important in relatively restricted geographic areas.Dengue viruses cause frequent epidemics throughout the region and are endemic in a number of countries, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.Epidemic activity in northeastern Australia and the Pacific island nations is the result of reintroductions by viremic travelers (8).This report will focus