Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases are causing outbreaks with loss of human and
animal lives and may have large economic and societal impacts. There may be both
natural and anthropogenic drivers behind the emergence of viral diseases. Zoonotic
diseases are more commonly emerging, and because RNA viruses have an inherent
tendency to change, they are overrepresented among emerging diseases. Apart from the
naturally occurring changes in the pathogens, humans also contribute to disease
emergence by contributing to changes in land use and climate, which in turn affects
ecosystems and biodiversity. This chapter reviews the different mechanisms behind
viral disease emergence, as well as presents a framework evaluating the spill-over of
zoonotic diseases at the human-wildlife-livestock interfaces. The chapter starts with
discussing viral evolution and moves towards global changes and the impact on
diseases, with a particular focus on vector-borne viruses.
Keywords: Arbovirus, Climate change, Disease spillover event, Disease transmission, Disease drivers, Emerging infectious diseases, Ecosystem services, Globalization, Human-animal interface, Land-use change, Urbanization, Vectorborne disease, Virology, Vector ecology, Zoonosis.