Professor Lipkin is one of the leading advocates of a global early warning system for contagious disease to reduce the risk of the sort of pandemic seen in Contagion.

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Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children.

WSJ: New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Public Health Wales, said measles was a very contagious disease that would be contracted by 90% of unvaccinated people who came into contact with cases.

BBC: Boy with measles

People overestimated their chances of catching flu and the length of time for which the disease would be contagious, and underestimated the effectiveness and duration of the vaccine.

ECONOMIST: Flu vaccination

Peaks in cases of the highly contagious disease cycle every two to five years.

CNN: 9th baby in California dies from whooping cough

In 2006 researchers from the Hebrew University in Israel isolated a variant of the virus that causes Newcastle disease, a highly contagious disease in birds that can kill.

ECONOMIST: The prospects for using genes as a therapy may be improving