Infections without borders: a new coronavirus in Wuhan, China

Due to increases in international travel and commerce, global infectious disease epidemiology is rapidly evolving. For example, travel between most places in the world takes less time than the incubation period for many infectious diseases (Wilson, 2003). From an infectious disease perspective, globalisation has resulted in a world without borders where control of infections necessitates international cooperation and coordination. Currently we are experiencing this first-hand with the outbreak of a new coronavirus in the city of Wuhan in China, resulting in immense concern regarding a severe global public health threat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) coordinates the international response to major outbreaks of infectious disease based on its International Health Regulations (2005) (WHO, 2016). From a European perspective the overarching body responsible for communicable disease control and response to health threats is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) (https://www.ecdc.europa.eu). With the UK departing the European Union it is essential to agree a future joint coordination mechanism for a robust, coordinated approach to global public health threats at points of entry (Boland and O'Riordan, 2019). Infectious diseases do not respect borders and, to control them, neither should we.