Combating infectious diseases in the Pacific Islands: sentinel surveillance, environmental health, and geospatial tools.

Infectious diseases are responsible for significant disease burden in the Pacific Islands. Environmental drivers of disease transmission and public health challenges vary between diseases, at times of emergence versus outbreaks, and also during the last stages of elimination where prevalence is low. In order to more effectively combat infectious diseases in the region, innovative approaches such as sentinel surveillance, environmental monitoring, the use of geospatial tools should be explored.