Please take a look at this fascinating and informative Discover Magazine article, written by Jared Diamond and Nathan Wolfe and published in October of 2008.  The article addresses the following question: where will the next pandemic emerge?  However, the article also provides a thorough, well-written, and intriguing anecdotal history of infectious disease, of human and non-human vectors for disease transmission, and of the impact of human culture and behavior on the spread of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections.  The article touches on the most concerning epidemic of modern times, HIV/AIDS, as well as a variety of other infectious pathogens from anthrax and African sleeping sickness to SARS and syphilis.  And as for predictions regarding the future of pandemic infectious disease, Diamond and Wolfe warn that cholera, influenza, and tuberculosis are pathogens worth keeping an eye on. 

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/nov/27-where-will-the-next-pandemic-emerge