Prediction and prevention of urban arbovirus epidemics: A challenge for the global virology community

The recent emergence and rapid spread of Zika virus in tropical regions of the Western Hemisphere took arbovirologists and public health officials by surprise, and the earlier transfers of West Nile and chikungunya viruses from the Old to the New World were also unexpected. These pandemics underscore the increasing threat of zoonotic arboviruses, especially those that are capable of entering into human-amplified, urban transmission cycles transmitted by Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti and sometimes other Aedes (Stegomyia) spp. mosquitoes. This review serves as an introduction to a World Health Organization-sponsored conference to be held on June 18–19, 2018 in Geneva, titled “From obscurity to urban epidemics: what are the next urban arboviruses?” It is intended to set the stage and fuel discussions of future urban arbovirus threats, how we can predict these risks from known and unknown viruses, and what factors may change these risks over time.