Emergence of arboviruses in the Americas: the boom and bust of funding, innovation, and capacity

Authors: KADING, REBEKAH - Colorado State University; Cohnstaedt, Lee; FALL, KEN - Bioquip Products; HAMER, GABRIEL - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/4/2020
Publication Date: 6/6/2020
Citation: Kading, R.C., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Fall, K., Hamer, G.E. 2020. Emergence of arboviruses in the Americas: the boom and bust of funding, innovation, and capacity. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 5(2):96. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5020096.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5020096

Interpretive Summary: When there are public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks, governments and industry respond by investing in solutions to the problem. This investment can be both monetary, time, and human resources resulting in focused research. The return on investment (ROI) of these temporary infusions of money and effort result in an increase in productivity measured by publications and innovations. Although the work helps the current outbreak, the knowledge and new methods and materials will help with future outbreaks as well. We quantify the ROI of boom and bust cycles of vector-borne diseases in the United States.

Technical Abstract: Mosquito-borne viruses will continue to emerge and generate a significant public health burden around the globe. Here, we provide a longitudinal perspective on how the emergence of mosquito-borne viruses in the Americas has triggered reactionary funding by sponsored agencies, stimulating a number of publications, innovative development of traps, and augmented capacity. We discuss the return on investment (ROI) from the oscillation in federal funding that influences demand for surveillance and control traps and leads to innovation and research productivity.