In response to a series of reports warning of a growing likelihood of catastrophic epidemics worldwide, Dr. David R. Smith, Texas Commissioner of Health, today said that not enough resources are dedicated to protecting public health. Because some geographic areas are warming, vector species of mosquitoes are enlarging their native territories into areas where they have never been seen before. Every day, millions of international travelers mingle in air terminals and port cities.
Rural populations seek food and work in urban areas where unimmunized populations concentrate.
Exotic animals are imported as pets. Dr. Smith explained that Texas' own vulnerability to highly contagious infections has been alarmingly clear in recent years. Even with what we consider to be model disease control and surveillance programs, we have had outbreaks and deaths linked to some of the most infectious viruses on earth. Dr. Smith cited hantavirus as an example of an emerging disease which was unknown to Texas before 1993. The state recently recorded its fourth case of the rodent-borne disease, so deadly that only about half of patients infected with it survive.