01775nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653003300058653002400091653002700115653001100142653001900153653002100172653001800193100001300211700001400224700001300238700001400251245010800265856008300373300001300456490000800469050001600477520099000493022001401483       2013                            d  c2013 Aug 0510aCommunicable Disease Control10aDisease eradication10aDisease Susceptibility10aHumans10aImmune Evasion10aMass Vaccination10aPublic health1 aKlepac P1 aMetcalf J1 aMcLean A1 aHampson K00aTowards the endgame and beyond: complexities and challenges for the elimination of infectious diseases.  uhttp://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/368/1623/20120137.full.pdf+html  a201201370 v368  aKLEPAC 20133 a<p>Successful control measures have interrupted the local transmission of human infectious diseases such as measles, malaria and polio, and saved and improved billions of lives. Similarly, control efforts have massively reduced the incidence of many infectious diseases of animals, such as rabies and rinderpest, with positive benefits for human health and livelihoods across the globe. However, disease elimination has proven an elusive goal, with only one human and one animal pathogen globally eradicated. As elimination targets expand to regional and even global levels, hurdles may emerge within the endgame when infections are circulating at very low levels, turning the last mile of these public health marathons into the longest mile. In this theme issue, we bring together recurring challenges that emerge as we move towards elimination, highlighting the unanticipated consequences of particular ecologies and pathologies of infection, and approaches to their management. </p>  a1471-2970