"If we maintain the high level of immunological response of the population we will not have any more problems with this virus, but for this it is very important to vaccinate children. The vaccines are to prevent the disease in children, but we also protect the whole community. Dr. Aileen Marty intervened with these words at the inaugural discussion paper of the XII edition of the congress of the Spanish Society of Medicine and International Health (SEMTSI) and V Symposium on Tropical Health of the high school of Tropical Health of the University of Navarra. 

The event was inaugurated by president María Iraburu in the presence of the Minister of Health of the Government of Navarra, Santos Induráin; the Mayor of Pamplona, Enrique Maya; the President of the Public University of Navarra, Ramón Gonzalo; the President of the Spanish Society of Tropical Medicine and International Health (SEMTSI), María Dolores Bargues, and the director of ISTUN, Paul Nguewa.

With the degree scroll One Health, improving the world, experts from all over the world will be analysing the influence of globalisation, together with other factors, on the increase in the transmission of infectious diseases between humans and animals until next Thursday at the University Museum. They also discuss how pandemic-prone diseases emerge and spread.

Aileen M. Marty is an infectious disease specialist and professor at Florida International University.

For more than 40 years he has worked and researched in the fields of tropical and infectious diseases and public health. In addition to serving on the health advisory committees of several US presidents, she has also worked with the World Health Organisation and has tackled diseases around the world, including Ebola, Zika and, most recently, covid-19. Dr Aileen Marty did not rule out the emergence of new strains of coronavirus but said: "On an optimistic note, the emergency part of the pandemic where we can dispense with masks at certain times is coming to an end. But I hope that we citizens have learned something after these two years. Masks have their value in preventing infection. 

More than 167 million unknown viruses

During her speech, Aileen Marty reviewed the different viruses that have emerged throughout history, which have affected global health and their transmission to a greater or lesser extent to humans: from Ebola, measles, AIDS, mers or the SarsCov-2 (coronavirus) that caused the last pandemic. "The idea of One Health is precisely to be aware and alert to what is happening in animals and plants and to be able to prevent the problem and respond before it is transmitted to humans," she explained. She urged those present to address research to combat the emergence of new viruses in a cross-cutting way in all creatures and stressed the importance of international cooperation. 

Dr Marty also talked about the behaviour of viruses and differentiated between those with high mortality but lower transmission, such as Mers which was detected in 2002, and covid19 with high transmission but lower mortality. "Vaccines are not the only thing, and this brings us back to the One Health concept: we need to be aware of what is happening in animals before it reaches humans. There are 167 million viruses that are not yet known that can cause problems affecting different species," he warned.