The effect of climate change on the occurrence and prevalence of livestock diseases in Great Britain: a review

Abstract

Summary There is strong evidence to suggest that climate change has, and will continue to affect the occurrence, distribution and prevalence of livestock diseases in Great Britain (GB). This paper reviews how climate change could affect livestock diseases in GB. Factors influenced by climate change and that could affect livestock diseases include the molecular biology of the pathogen itself; vectors (if any); farming practice and land use; zoological and environmental factors; and the establishment of new microenvironments and microclimates. The interaction of these factors is an important consideration in forecasting how livestock diseases may be affected. Risk assessments should focus on looking for combinations of factors that may be directly affected by climate change, or that may be indirectly affected through changes in human activity, such as land use (e.g. deforestation), transport and movement of animals, intensity of livestock farming and habitat change. A risk assessment framework is proposed, based on modules that accommodate these factors. This framework could be used to screen for the emergence of unexpected disease events.

Future consequences and challenges for dairy cow production systems arising from climate change in Central Europe – a review

“…Furthermore, it can be assumed that some crucial impacts are still omitted in most of the studies on climate change and the economics of dairy farming, owing to a lack of knowledge and research. The interaction of pathogens and climate change, for example, is so complex (Gale et al, 2009;Van Dijk et al, 2010) that potential economic consequences are hardly measurable in this field. However, the incidence of new Climate change and dairy farming in Central Europe or more dangerous pathogens in the course of climate change can have significant indirect impacts on dairy farming.…”

“…Indirect effects of global warming on the health and welfare of animals seem to be more complicated and thus are less predictable. Apart from heat stress-related discomfort and indirectly induced metabolic disorders, climate change has the potential to affect the occurrence and distribution of diseases (Gale et al, 2009) and to increase the transmission intensity of highly pathogenic, ubiquitous parasites to levels uncontrollable by current management strategies (van Dijk et al, 2010). …”

Thermoregulatory behaviour affects prevalence of chytrid fungal infection in a wild population of Panamanian golden frogs

“…Given the potential impact of ongoing climate change on disease risk for humans (McMichael 2006;Estrada-Pena 2009) and other organisms (e.g. Ghini et al 2008;Gale et al 2009), such information will undoubtedly be important, especially for threatened or endangered taxa (Smith et al 2009). …”

Climate conditions associated with the occurrence of antimicrobial and macrocyclic lactone residues in bulk tank milk

“…The association of milk production with macrocyclic lactone residues observed here was consistent with Gross et al (1999); Sanchez et al (2004) and Reist et al (2011) Although the present study evaluated the effect of climate conditions on the antimicrobial and macrocyclic lactone residues in raw milk in a short period, their importance should at least be regarded in terms of world climate change. The changes in temperature and rainfall patterns may lead to alterations in the dynamics of pathogens of veterinary importance (Gale et al, 2009;Van Dijk et al, 2010) and, consequently, in the veterinary drug usage and the presence of their residues in food of animal origin with important human health implications. For instance, in the last few years, lower-than-usual precipitation rates were observed over southeastern Brazil (Getirana, 2016).…”