Climate change has been identified as a significant factor contributing to the spread and increase of infectious diseases. The changing climate, characterized by milder winters, warmer summers, and fewer frost days, creates favorable conditions for the expansion of disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks. These vectors are able to survive in larger geographic areas and infect more people .
Climate change and infectious diseases:
Lyme disease, West Nile virus disease, and Valley fever
are some of the infectious diseases that have been on the rise and spreading to new areas in the United States due to climate change .
Temperature changes
associated with climate change can impact the life cycle of pathogens, potentially affecting disease transmission .
Animals that carry ticks
, such as rodents, deer, and raccoons, are expanding their habitats due to the warming climate. This results in ticks emerging and biting earlier in the season, leading to increased risk of tick-borne diseases .
Increased rainfall, floods, and drought
caused by climate change can create stagnant water for disease-carrying vectors to breed or increase the risk of contaminated water, further facilitating the spread of infectious diseases .
Efforts to study and mitigate the impact:
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
, particularly the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), is actively engaged in efforts to protect public health from the harmful effects of climate change. Scientists at CDC are conducting surveillance to study the impact of climate change and track the spread of infectious diseases .
The CDC’s NCEZID has increased support to states to improve tick surveillance and reporting, with 26 states currently reporting tick surveillance data to CDC .