Recent disease outbreaks, like Ebola and Zika, have demonstrated the need to anticipate pandemics and contain them before they emerge.
In addition to unpleasant itching and scratching, days after they can also cause some more serious problems, spreading diseases such as chikungunya, dengue and Zika. Here we've put together some top tips on steps you can take to avoid being bitten.
US health authorities on Friday declare a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to the outbreak of Zika, which has now infected more than 10,000 people.
World number two Dustin Johnson, who won his first major title at the US Open Golf Championship in June, will not play in the Rio Olympics because of concerns over the Zika virus.
Parts of a mutilated body wash up on the sands of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, just meters (yards) from where beach volleyball athletes will compete in the upcoming Olympics.
World No.1 golfer Jason Day of Australia says he is withdrawing from the Rio Olympic Games over the threat of the Zika virus.
South African Branden Grace joins a growing list of leading golfers withdrawing from the Rio Olympics on Friday due to concerns about the Zika virus.
Rory McIlroy has pulled out of the Olympic Games in Rio because of concerns about the Zika virus.
Rio de Janeiro's governor declares a state of financial emergency and requests federal funds to help fulfill obligations for public services during the Olympics that start August 5.
Evidence mounted linking Zika to the birth defect microcephaly, and the United Nations health agency set a review of travel advice related to the outbreak of the virus while US officials planned strategy to control mosquitoes that spread it.
New research gives the first evidence that Zika virus might cause a severe neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome.
France has detected its first sexually transmitted case of Zika in a woman whose partner had traveled to Brazil, the epicentre of an outbreak of the virus, a senior health official says.
The organising committee for the August Olympics in Rio de Janeiro said it will charge national delegations to have mosquito screens on athletes' rooms.
Brazil is planning to fight the Zika virus by zapping millions of male mosquitoes with gamma rays to sterilize them and stop the spread of the virus linked to thousands of birth defects.
US and Brazilian researchers are heading to João Pessoa in the state of Paraíba on Monday to recruit mothers and babies in one of the biggest government-led studies to understand whether the Zika virus is linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect.
The Zika virus may be particularly adept at entrenching itself in parts of the body that are shielded from the immune system, making it harder to fight off and possibly lengthening the timeframe in which it can be transmitted, top US experts say.
Three people dies in Venezuela from complications linked to Zika, says President Nicolas Maduro.
One of the US's most senior public health officials has revealed the "strongest evidence to date" of the effect on babies of the Zika virus.
China has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus in a man who had recently travelled to South America, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.