About this Research Topic
The World Health Organization has stated that climate change is the “single biggest health threat facing humanity”. It has direct effects on health, such as illness and death resulting from extreme weather events, as well as indirect effects, by affecting physical and ecological processes that change the distribution of diseases.
Changes in the environment and climate will alter the current geographical distribution and range of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, such as vector-borne diseases, that are of particular concern. Other climate-sensitive infectious diseases are likely to increase in frequency and severity, as with food- and water-borne diseases as a result of water temperature and quality; or zoonotic diseases, that currently, account for 60% of emerging infectious diseases.
Tropical regions of the world and the African continent in particular are increasingly being impacted by climate change, with human health problems putting constrained health systems under greater pressure. The populations that are most vulnerable and most severely affected, live in regions that are more densely populated, have limited resources and therefore less able to adapt. There is therefore a greater continuous need to understand and quantify the health impacts of climate change in these areas.
This Research Topic aims to highlight new research from tropical regions, with African countries being of particular interest, about the climate-related health impacts related to zoonotic and infectious diseases.
Changes in the environment and climate will alter the current geographical distribution and range of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, such as vector-borne diseases, that are of particular concern. Other climate-sensitive infectious diseases are likely to increase in frequency and severity, as with food- and water-borne diseases as a result of water temperature and quality; or zoonotic diseases, that currently, account for 60% of emerging infectious diseases.
Tropical regions of the world and the African continent in particular are increasingly being impacted by climate change, with human health problems putting constrained health systems under greater pressure. The populations that are most vulnerable and most severely affected, live in regions that are more densely populated, have limited resources and therefore less able to adapt. There is therefore a greater continuous need to understand and quantify the health impacts of climate change in these areas.
This Research Topic aims to highlight new research from tropical regions, with African countries being of particular interest, about the climate-related health impacts related to zoonotic and infectious diseases.
Keywords: climate change, tropical disease, infectious disease, zoonotic, Africa
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