A number of infectious agents has been newly detected in thr last 10 years.
Climatic hanges and migration have been the most important factors in thw
emergence of new and old infections. Additionally, new methods for the dete
ction of DNA and RNA have played an important role in the detection of agen
ts difficult to culture.
Relevant new bacterial pathogens are Bartonella henselae (cat scratch disea
se, bacillary angiomatosis). Tropheryma whippeli (Whipple's disease) and ne
w Rickettsiar. Newly detected viral pathogens include Sin-nombre virus (pul
monary Hanta virus syndrome), Nipah- and Hendra virus and avian influenza.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been transmitted to humans causing the
newly described syndrome of variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease. The extent o
f this is not yet clear.