Disease Indication Overviews
Learn how infectious diseases are discovered, diagnosed and treated with our indication fact sheets, and read about our partnerships with companies developing and deploying vaccines, treatments and preventive devices worldwide in our overview sheets.
CHAGAS Disease
Chagas disease (aka American trypanosomiasis) is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is found mostly in triatomine insects (aka “kissing bugs”) and in the Americas. Infection is life-long, with symptoms ranging from fever and headaches to enlarged internal organs.
Chikungunya
CHIKV outbreaks have occurred in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It was found for the first time in the Americas on islands in the Caribbean in 2013 and has spread throughout most of the Americas. It has since been identified in over 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. No commercially available vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat CHIKV infection is currently available.
Coronaviruses
Discovered in the 1960s, coronaviruses (CoV) are a large group of RNA viruses in the family Coronaviridae that cause disease in humans and animal species. Human illness includes respiratory infections that range from the common cold to viral (direct) or bacterial (indirect) pneumonia and are especially serious in infants and at-risk adults. There are seven known coronavirus types/strains.
Ebola
Since 1976, Ebola virus disease outbreaks have primarily occurred in eleven countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uganda. Although it is generally rare, it is often fatal, with death rates ranging from 25 to 90% in past outbreaks (average case fatality rate, 50%). No treatment or vaccine is currently approved, but there are several promising vaccines and treatments under development.
Malaria
Nearly half a million deaths worldwide annually result from malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Ongoing malaria transmission was present in 87 countries and areas in 2017. Five countries account for nearly half of all malaria cases worldwide (listed in descending order): Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, India and Uganda.
