A large proportion of communicable diseases have an animal origin. The focus articles in this issue cover the more ‘traditional’ zoonotic diseases, which are notifiable in Australia.

Multimorbidity, commonly defined as the co-occurrence of two or more chronic conditions within one person without defining an index chronic condition, has the person, not a disease, as the focus.

General practice as a unique discipline has advanced exponentially, culminating in the formal recognition as a distinct specialty.