The recent global (re)emergence of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), such as chikungunya and Zika virus, was widely reported in the media as though it was a new phenomenon. This is not the case. Arboviruses and other human microbial pathogens have been (re)emerging for centuries. The major difference today is that arbovirus emergence and dispersion are more rapid and geographically extensi...

BACKGROUND Pertussis is the only vaccine-preventable disease that has re-emerged in Israel. The reported crude incidence of the disease increased 16-fold since 1998. OBJECTIVES To describe the epidemiology of pertussis and explain the substantial increase in reported pertussis incidence in Israel in recent years. METHODS Crude and specific pertussis incidence by age, patient immunization st...

Chikungunya virus is no stranger to the Indian sub­ continent. Since its first isolation in Calcutta, in 1963, there have been several reports of chikungunya virus infection in different parts of India. The last outbreak of chikungunya virus infection occurred in India in 1971. Subsequently, there has been no active or passive surveillance carried out in the country and therefore, it ‘seemed’ t...