War and the Landscape of Vector-Borne Diseases in the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region: ‎Operational Challenges for Public Health in Protracted Crises

Abstract

Globally, vector-borne diseases (VBDs) ac­count for nearly 20% of the estimated bur­den of infectious diseases. Within the 22 countries of the World Health Organization Eastern Med­iterranean Region (EMR), home to approximate­ly 8% of the world’s popula­tion, nearly 11% of the global VBDs burden is concentrated. Some parasitic diseases, es­pecially malaria, tryp­anosomiasis, schistoso­miasis, onchocerciasis, loi­asis, dracunculiasis and both cutaneous and visceral leishmania­sis, continue to be reported in several coun­tries of the region (1). Further­more, recent regional evidence highlights a substantial di­versity of at least 73 arthropod-borne and ar­thropod-related viruses circulat­ing across EMR countries, notably dengue, West Nile, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rift Val­ley fever, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fe­ver, sandfly fever and chikungunya (2).