Climate change increases mosquito-borne diseases

Experts say that mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever, which are spreading in Europe due to climate change, will spread to unaffected areas in Northern Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia.

1. Why does climate change lead to an increase in mosquito-borne diseases?

Mosquitoes transmit diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, and their prevalence has increased significantly over the past 80 years due to global warming combined with humid climates that create favorable conditions for mosquito breeding.

Additionally, droughts and floods related to climate change can lead to increased virus transmission, with stored water creating more breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Professor Rachel Lowe, head of the global health recovery group in Barcelona, Spain, has warned of the risk of widespread outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases, even in previously unaffected areas like Northern Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia, in the coming decades, and that the world needs to prepare for a dramatic increase in these diseases.

The Aedes mosquito causes dengue fever.

Global warming due to climate change means that vectors of malaria and dengue fever can find refuge in more areas, with outbreaks occurring in places where people have weak immunity, inadequate public health systems, and insufficient preventative measures.

Dengue fever used to occur mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, as freezing temperatures overnight would kill the larvae and eggs of insects in temperate climates. But today, longer warm seasons and less frost have become factors contributing to the disease, as this is the fastest-spreading mosquito-borne virus in the world and is rapidly expanding in Europe.

As of 2023, the Asian tiger mosquito ( Aedes albopictus ), which carries the dengue fever pathogen, had appeared in 13 countries: Italy, France, Spain, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Greece, and Portugal.

Mosquitoes are thriving, creating favorable conditions for the transmission of dengue fever. Reports indicate that the number of dengue cases has increased eightfold in the last two decades, from 500,000 cases in 2000 to over 5 million cases in 2019.

Professor Lowe added that if carbon emissions increase and population growth continues at the current rate, the number of people living in areas with mosquito-borne diseases will double to 4.7 billion by the end of this century.

Climate change is increasing the incidence of mosquito-borne diseases.

2. Climate change is increasing antibiotic resistance.

Professor Sabiha Essack at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa stated that climate change is an "exponential threat" to antibiotic resistance: "Climate change damages ecological and environmental integrity, water systems, creating conditions for pathogens to proliferate."

Human activities, coupled with population growth and increased transportation, along with climate change, are leading to increased antibiotic resistance and the spread of waterborne and vector-borne diseases in humans, animals, and plants.

Professor Lowe added: "With climate change and the current unpredictable developments, it seems very difficult to solve the problem. Furthermore, the rise of drug-resistant parasites is also increasing the threat to the current disease situation. We may see more cases and even deaths from diseases like dengue fever and malaria across the European continent. We need to anticipate outbreaks and implement early interventions to prevent disease."

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