AIMS In this paper we outline and evaluate competing explanations for a heroin shortage that occurred in Australia during 2001 with an abrupt onset at the beginning of 2001. METHODS We evaluated each of the explanations offered for the shortage against evidence from a variety of sources: government reports, police and drug law enforcement documents and briefings, key informant (KI) interviews...

Between 1870 and 1929, nine separate outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) occurred in the United States of America (USA); additional outbreaks in North America include one in Mexico (1947) and two in Canada (1870 and 1952). In 1930, the United States Congress enacted a law prohibiting importation of live ruminants or swine or fresh meat from these species into the USA from countries affect...

The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Zanzibar has reached historic lows. Improving control requires quantifying malaria importation rates, identifying high-risk travelers, and assessing onwards transmission.Estimates of Zanzibar's importation rate were calculated through two independent methodologies. First, mobile phone usage data and ferry traffic between Zanzibar and mainland T...

Australia, along with 36 other countries in the Western Pacific Region, was declared free of poliomyelitis by the World Health Organization in October 2000. Yet, the persistence of wild poliovirus in the 4 remaining polio-endemic countries-Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan-poses a risk for its importation into all countries declared polio free. We describe the public health response and...

The rule of law is increasingly understood as a foundational determinant of health; one which underlies other socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors associated with health outcomes.1 Strengthened rule of law and related human resource capacity are critical for achieving the health outcomes of the 2030 Agenda, Agenda 2063, the African Health Strategy, and other global and regional develo...