Dengue fever. Chikungunya. West Nile Fever, and many more. When we were young, they were things you read about in geography text books, or heard in tales told by old Empire hands returning from a working life in the tropics. Not any longer. There’s pretty strong evidence that, thanks to our old friend climate change, these diseases are spreading north. So are the insects that spread them, both into Europe and into the United States. [1]
Our base line reference today is Nature Briefings which links to an excellent article from their main Journal. [1] Here is an excellent summary from Briefings
Climate change, international trade and travel are bringing the vectors of debilitating and sometimes deadly pathogens to Europe. And other parts of the non-tropical world that have previously had the luxury of not worrying about neglected tropical diseases — including the Gulf Coast of the United States — are experiencing similar issues. (Nature | 11 min read)
But the real joy of both these pieces is the infographic which they have provided, which lets you follow the progress of these organisms over the last few years.
Now, it’s not all gloom and doom- yet. Only West Nile Fever seems to have established itself so far. Other nasties like Chikungunya and Dengue are still only occurring as isolated incidents, although the trend is undoubtedly worrying. And there are steps we could take, like developing new vaccines. But the real answer is simple. Get rid of fossil fuels. As soon as possible.
#climate change #gobal warming #neglected tropical diseases #dengue #west nile fever #mosquitoes
Learning, Science and Society 