Satellite view of South Africa.
The threat of emerging infectious diseases is expanding as climate change is altering the range of animals, people and the pathogens that they carry.
Warmer and wetter weather, as well as changing land use and global transportation means that diseases don’t remain behind borders, and populations are being exposed to new diseases like Zika, ebola and new strains of influenza. Continue reading
Photo: ninaraCrescent Island Game Park in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
Could another seemingly obscure mosquito-borne disease that formerly existed mostly in Africa spread around the globe like the Zika virus?
Scientists say climate change increases that risk. With warming temperatures, mosquitoes carrying diseases are more abundant and are spreading to farther regions of the world. For journalists looking for stories about climate change and public health, infectious disease is a rich area for exploration. Continue reading