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Tropical Disease Warning for a Hotter, Wetter Europe
by Ailis Kane - Jun 13th, 2008
Think climate change - think extreme weather like floods, droughts and hurricanes. But now Europeans are talking up another threat that could be equally dramatic – the coming of tropical diseases, aided by changing climates and globalization.
As climate change makes Europe hotter and wetter, it could become more attractive to insects able to carry diseases like dengue fever and West Nile virus, scientists warned yesterday. And globalization could make the problem worse.
Last summer, a single traveler from India last summer sparked off an outbreak of the debilitating chikungunya fever in Italy. The virus was only able to spread because its carrier mosquito was already breeding in local waterways. Increasing global trade in recycled car parts was at least partly to blame – the mosquitoes hitched a lift to Europe in stagnant water carried in used tires that were being shipped over for resale.
From its hi-tech base in Stockholm, Sweden, the CDC-equivalent the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says that dengue fever, West Nile virus, chikungunya and tick-borne encephalitis could all become more common as the climate changes.
On the upside, the threat of new tropical disease could be a shot in the arm for European governments complacent about the direct effects of climate change on their people. If there’s one thing guaranteed to make governments sit up and listen, it’s a threat to public health.
Italy controlled the chikungunya outbreak last year by annihilating the local mosquito population. But as the climate changes, next time it might not be so easy.
Ailis Kane is a science journalist with an interest in environmental issues and healthcare, living and working in London.
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