Emerging infectious diseases and the effect of climate change

Abstract

Infectious diseases have been around since the dawn of time, having afflicted human civilizations for millennia. In 2007, WHO warned that since 1970, infectious diseases have been emerging at a rate never seen before. These emerging health threats come with significant socio-economic costs and both direct and indirect impacts on healthcare systems, disrupting economic activity.

The exact nature as to how and why these infections are changing is multifaceted and involves the interplay of many, frequently poorly determinable factors. With the rising human population, people living in closer quarters and travelling wider and more frequently than ever before, the potential for epidemics is high. With ongoing climate change and rampant ecological degradation, further epidemics seem inevitable. In this article I will be focusing on the effect of global climate change on emerging infections.