The Impact of Climate Change on Cholera: A Review on the Global Status and Future Challenges

Abstract

Water ecosystems can be rather sensitive to evolving or sudden changes in weather parameters. These changes can result in alterations in the natural habitat of pathogens, vectors, and human hosts, as well as in the transmission dynamics and geographic distribution of infectious agents. However, the interaction between climate change and infectious disease is rather complicated and not deeply understood. In this narrative review, we discuss climate-driven changes in the epidemiology of Vibrio species-associated diseases with an emphasis on cholera. Changes in environmental parameters do shape the epidemiology of Vibrio cholerae. Outbreaks of cholera cause significant disease burden, especially in developing countries. Improved sanitation systems, access to clean water, educational strategies, and vaccination campaigns can help control vibriosis. In addition, real-time assessment of climatic parameters with remote-sensing technologies in combination with robust surveillance systems could help detect environmental changes in high-risk areas and result in early public health interventions that can mitigate potential outbreaks.

Climate Change, Aquatic Ecosystems and Human Infectious Diseases in a Globalised World

“…In this Special Issue, our aim is to update the information related to the impact of climate change on human infectious diseases, especially those in which the vectors or parasites are related to aquatic ecosystems. This Special Issue, entitled "Impacts of Climate Change on Human Infectious Diseases related to Water Ecosystems", includes studies about infectious diseases such as vibriosis and water contamination by coliforms [1,2], yellow fever [3], malaria [4] and cholera [5]. These studies, which are related to different diseases caused by viruses [3], bacteria [1,2,5] and protozoa [4], are all focused on the aquatic environment.…”

“…This Special Issue, entitled "Impacts of Climate Change on Human Infectious Diseases related to Water Ecosystems", includes studies about infectious diseases such as vibriosis and water contamination by coliforms [1,2], yellow fever [3], malaria [4] and cholera [5]. These studies, which are related to different diseases caused by viruses [3], bacteria [1,2,5] and protozoa [4], are all focused on the aquatic environment. Many aquatic ecosystems play a role in the distribution of pathogens through rivers and sea currents [1,2,5], and eventually affect drinking water sources.…”

“…These studies, which are related to different diseases caused by viruses [3], bacteria [1,2,5] and protozoa [4], are all focused on the aquatic environment. Many aquatic ecosystems play a role in the distribution of pathogens through rivers and sea currents [1,2,5], and eventually affect drinking water sources. In other cases, the vectors that transmit the disease, such as mosquitoes, require natural or artificial liquid collections to complete their biological cycle.…”

“…Furthermore, the rise in sea level, as well as extreme events-such as storms and hurricanes-can facilitate the contamination of drinking water in coastal areas [1] or near great lakes, favoring the proliferation of pathogens associated with water. The studies grouped in this Special Issue, although they were carried out in America [1], Asia [2] and Europe [3,4], provide, as a whole, a global perspective [5], as they provide worldwide representative case studies. Moreover, some of the diseases addressed in these studies are transmitted by vectors [3,4], while others are not [1,2,5].…”

“…Thus, Table 1 presents a synthesis of the main infectious diseases related to the aquatic environment that repeatedly appear in expert panels about climate change, highlighting the main climatic variables involved. The data were gathered from the studies included in this Special Issue [1][2][3][4][5] and from some reviews [9][10][11][12][13]. Table 1 is not a thorough compilation of these infectious diseases related to aquatic ecosystems; it rather provides a general view of those which are gathered in different reports and expert panels.…”