The Importance of Developing and Improving Border Surveillance for the Protection of National and International Public Health

The world’s organization has been changing since the end of the century, during which  the countries have been eliminating their physical and tariff barriers, thereby creating  economic blocs with free trade zones. The new global dynamics associated with the development of communications and transportation technologies have resulted in a constant mobilization of large volumes of people and goods between countries and continents in a very short period. With the elimination of distance and time barriers, it became possible to travel between different parts of the world in a time much shorter than the incubation period of many infectious diseases. Thus, national borders became open for the movement and entry of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. The intense movement of people, animals and goods in a time of globalization, is an important component in the distribution of infectious diseases in the world. The movement of people facilitates the transmission and spread of contagious diseases such as HIV and Influenza Virus. Yet, in this context, the movement of animals, whether companion, production, wild or derived products, has its relevance.  Animals have been the source of many recently identified emerging diseases, including HIV/AIDS, H5N1 Avian Influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and H1N1 Influenza A. Of the 335 identified new infectious diseases in the world in recent years, 60.3% are zoonotic diseases. In 2007 the new International Health Regulations (IHR) were reinforced. With the reformulation of the IHR, the WHO member states have come to play a critical role in disease prevention and control  for global health and for their own territory. Therefore, the development of policies and mechanisms to strengthen Epidemiological  Border Surveillance is essential for the protection of national and international territories.