Climate change has always been a concern for our planet.
new A report published by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)shows that climate change can increase the risk of pandemics.
Environmental changes are happening at a much faster rate now than before. In the event of an immunodeficiency, things can quickly spread to entire populations, says Dr Ann Sporkland, a molecular immunologist and professor of anatomy at the University of Oslo.
in Stady From 2022, the researchers analyzed decades of environmental data related to the outbreak Lassa fever in Nigeria.
The study revealed that temperature and precipitation were major factors that contributed to the transmission of the disease.
From animal to human
in nigeria, explains Dr. Nainaya Ajayithat a warmer planet in recent years has led to warmer dry seasons, and more precipitation.
These “ecosystem changes,” as she describes them, cause first fires and then floods. This leads to rats and other rodents taking refuge in people’s homes and eating them.
Climate change is forcing everyone who can, to seek refuge, he says
Professor Aaron Bernstein, Head of the Center for Climate, Health, and Environment at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
RAT TO CASH: Residents carry a cage with a trapped rat as they wait their turn at the “Rat to Cash” program in Marikina, Philippines. Local authorities pay residents $3.50 for each mouse they surrender to, as part of their program against leptospirosis, a disease caused primarily by rodents.
Photo: Aaron Favila/AP
This means that species that were previously geographically isolated now meet each other with increasing regularity.
This increases the risk of spreading the virus to each other and people, explains Bernstein.
Research shows that climate change has contributed to an increase in the incidence of diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans.
This means that outbreaks of deadly diseases are becoming larger, more frequent – and more widespread.
Researchers at the University of Brussels, Belgium, and the Scrib Research Institute, USA, Be warned that climate change is causing Lassa fever to spread its deadly spreadwell beyond her Nigerian and West African ancestry.
deadly range
It’s not just rats that spread disease.
According to the CEPI report, climate change could lead to an increase in disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes and ticks.
Mosquito is the most dangerous animal on earthand kills between 725,000 and 1 million people annually – and infects millions more.
The most dangerous in the world: the photo shows a mosquito on a person’s arm. Mosquitoes are among the most dangerous creatures on the planet due to their ability to spread deadly diseases such as malaria, Zika, chikungunya or dengue fever.
Photo: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/Ap
It could lead to higher temperatures and increased precipitation swampy areaswhich are known habitats for mosquitoes, are becoming larger and more widespread.
This can create ideal conditions for mosquitoes to breed and spread to new areas.
In addition, increased rainfall can cause swampy areas to remain underwater for a longer period of time, which can increase the number of mosquitoes and their rate of reproduction.
Malaria: A mother holding her baby receives a new malaria vaccine in Kumbiowa, western Kenya. Although the vaccine only protects about a third of vaccinated children, those who get the vaccine are likely to have less severe cases of malaria.
Photo: Karel Prinsloo/AP
As a result, climate change may increase the risk of spreading mosquito-borne diseases, such as malariaAnd dengue fever And Zika fever.
Climate change can also affect the migration patterns of animals such as bats, which are known to be an important source of diseases such as Ebola, SARS, and the COVID-19 virus.
Reason for optimism
The world’s health systems are not prepared for the double burden of climate change and increased pandemic risk, writes Kate Kelland, CEPI’s principal science writer.
OPTIMIST: CEPI’s lead science writer Kate Kelland says more research is needed on climate change and pandemics — and she puts her faith in scientific knowledge.
Photo: CEPI
This means there is a need for increased global disease surveillance and early warning systems — as well as research on preparedness against known and hitherto unknown epidemic diseases, she writes.
Despite these challenges, Kelland argues, there is reason for optimism.
We now have the scientific knowledge and technical capacity to control such outbreaks before they get out of control. This means that we will be able to begin to reduce the increased risks and neutralize the possibility of the spread of the epidemic.
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