# What are the next infectious diseases we will eradicate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788 "2014-06-14T19:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/21 "2014-06-16T01:56:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think I’m actually going to back down on this point. To my mind, there was always some kind of boundary between infection and _infestation_- probably dependent on whether you can (or could) see the organism with the naked eye (so bacteria, viruses, protozoans, amoebae, even microscopic worms, mites and larvae) would infect. Anything bigger trying to eat you would be some other kind of attack - infestation or (on a larger scale again) predation. > (I mean, nobody was ever infected with tigers). > > But it seems like the medical profession is quite happy to use the term _infection_ for bigger stuff (including tapeworms, for example). So I retract my nitpick above. The terms are not as exact as I thought. They still use infestations in some medical areas, at least in veterinary medicine. But the difference is not micro vs macroscopic… it’s if the organism invades the interior or not. For example, fleas, ticks, lice, and many skin mites are considered infestations. Roundworms, hookworms, other intestinal parasites, and yes, guinea worms… they get inside the animal. So that is an infection. Come to think of it, I wonder if it is also the difference between the different types of immune reactions. With infections, there can be a response against the organism itself, as at least parts of it can come in contact with the immune system, while with infestations the host is usually indirectly in contact with it. The allergies or reactions are to products of the organisms, not the organisms themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/22 "2014-06-16T03:21:28Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > They still use infestations in some medical areas, at least in veterinary medicine. But the difference is not micro vs macroscopic… it’s if the organism invades the interior or not. > > For example, fleas, ticks, lice, and many skin mites are considered infestations. Roundworms, hookworms, other intestinal parasites, and yes, guinea worms… they get inside the animal. So that is an infection. [Yet references to worm infestations are commonplace](https://www.google.com.au/search?q=roundworm+infestation+site:.edu&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:officiall). > [@](#): > > Come to think of it, I wonder if it is also the difference between the different types of immune reactions. With infections, there can be a response against the organism itself, as at least parts of it can come in contact with the immune system, while with infestations the host is usually indirectly in contact with it. The allergies or reactions are to products of the organisms, not the organisms themselves. Any immune reaction will be to part of the organism. Any reaction to worms will be due to a reaction to the cuticle or the saliva or similar. You don’t just get a reaction to “worm”. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/23 "2014-06-16T06:11:52Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Polio would probably already be eradicated if it weren’t for, well, politics. The main areas where it’s still endemic (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria) all have Islamic fundamentalist groups who strongly oppose anything seen as being Western, including vaccinations. While I agree that fundamentalist religious groups are often a problem with regards to vaccination programs, let’s not forget that the United States set up a phony vaccination program in Pakistan as part of its counter-terrorist operations. That accounts for at least some of the resistance in Pakistan, and perhaps other Muslim nations. > **[How the CIA’s Fake Vaccination Campaign Endangers Us All](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-cia-fake-vaccination-campaign-endangers-us-all/)** > > The U.S. was wrong to use health workers to target Osama bin Laden ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/24 "2014-06-16T06:17:45Z")
It’ll take a while for polio and measles, I’ll bet, thanks to the anti-vax douchebags. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/25 "2014-06-16T11:02:56Z")
My understanding is that eradication is only really feasible in certain very specific cases. Crucially, a disease must be human-specific. For example, we will probably never eradicate rabies because even if no human has rabies, there will be plenty of other animals that do: we can’t vaccinate everything. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/26 "2014-06-16T11:10:04Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > For example, we will probably never eradicate rabies because even if no human has rabies, there will be plenty of other animals that do: we can’t vaccinate everything. We can’t? [There is an oral bait program for rabies virus.](http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/rabies/orv.html) if enough bait packets are distributed. . . No, I guess bat rabies would be unaffected. Never mind? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/27 "2014-06-16T12:06:14Z")
Thanks for the replies so far, guinea worm was on the tip of my tongue (not literally, ew) as another potential disease to be eradicated along with smallpox. > [@MandaJo](#): > > My understanding is that eradication is only really feasible in certain very specific cases. Crucially, a disease must be human-specific. Say what? Rindepest, eradicated by 2011, certainly wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/28 "2014-06-16T12:19:08Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Thanks for the replies so far, guinea worm was on the tip of my tongue (not literally, ew) as another potential disease to be eradicated along with smallpox. > Say what? Rindepest, eradicated by 2011, certainly wasn’t. I should have said “species specific”. It’s found in a fairly limited number of large-animal species, and once no animals were currently infected, it was gone. And in any case, I don’t think you can compare non-human diseases. Having “mass culling” on the table really changes management strategies. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/29 "2014-06-16T13:00:20Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I should have said “species specific”. It’s found in a fairly limited number of large-animal species, and once no animals were currently infected, it was gone. And in any case, I don’t think you can compare non-human diseases. Having “mass culling” on the table really changes management strategies. Along the same lines, Mad Cow Disease could probably be eliminated with the same techniques, but you can’t do that with human diseases (at lease, not without ending up in front of a war crimes tribunal). ETA: Both polio and Guinea Worm Disease are the subject of active efforts to eradicate them. A few other diseases, like measels and whooping cough, could be wiped out with a worldwide vaccination program, but they’re a lower priority. Malaria is probably not feasible any time in the forseeable future. We’d need to wipe out the world’s mosquito population. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/30 "2014-06-16T13:29:52Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Malaria is probably not feasible any time in the forseeable future. We’d need to wipe out the world’s mosquito population. [The Lancet: Malaria eradication: is it possible? Is it worth it? Should we do it?](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X%2813%2970002-0/fulltext) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/31 "2014-06-16T13:44:39Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [The Lancet: Malaria eradication: is it possible? Is it worth it? Should we do it?](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X%2813%2970002-0/fulltext) Missed the edit window. From the article: > [@](#): > > Of the ten leading causes of death in the developing world, malaria is the only one with a real prospect for eradication. Progress is good. Our weapons are effective and continually improving. With adequate and sustained commitment, the task can be achieved. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788/32 "2014-06-16T14:56:18Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Polio would probably already be eradicated if it weren’t for, well, politics. The main areas where it’s still endemic (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria) all have Islamic fundamentalist groups who strongly oppose anything seen as being Western, including vaccinations. > > Attacks on medical personnel are all too common in Nigeria and the others have regions that medical personnel can’t get to safely. Don’t forget that CIA probably made this impossible by posing as vaccinators in tracking down bin Laden. I was astonished to read that any Muslim who wishes to made the Hajj must have a polio vaccination first. I doubt that any human diseases are about to be wiped out owing to the prevalence of anti-vaxxers. They are leading a resurgence of measles and whooping cough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-next-infectious-diseases-we-will-eradicate/690788.md?page=1)