As global warming continues, glaciers melt, sea level rise, weather conditions change. But there is one more serious threat: the spread of new and long-forgotten diseases in areas that were once considered safe.
Introducing top-5 fatal diseases related to global warming .
Contents:
- 5. Anthrax
- 4. Zika virus
- 3. Until now unknown pathogens
- 2. Tick-borne disease
- 1. Cholera
5. Siberian ulcer
In July 2016 an outbreak of anthrax killed 2.3 thousand deer in Yamal. And 96 people living in the area of the outbreak were taken to the hospital for examination for the presence of the disease. In 23 of them, an anthrax was found.
Veterinarians assume that the cause of the spread of infection was the accidental opening of the grave of an animal infected with anthrax. And the abnormal heat contributed to a very rapid and massive spread of deadly disease among deer.
4. Zika virus
Usually does not cause symptoms( except a slight increase in temperature and rash in adults), but it can provoke miscarriage and fetal microcephaly if it gets into the body of a pregnant woman. The main vector of the virus Zika - yellow-fever mosquito( Aedes aegypti).Bites in the daytime and can multiply in rainwater. Currently yellow feverish mosquito is found mainly in the tropics, most often in Southeast Asia, South and Central America and parts of Africa. But it can also reach regions where global warming will cause drought, and people will start harvesting rainwater for domestic use.
3. Until now unknown pathogens
Anthrax is not the only "long-liver" from the rating of potentially dangerous deadly diseases provoked by global warming. In 2015, researchers announced that they had found a virus that was still contagious after 30,000 years of living in Siberian permafrost. Fortunately, this virus from the genus Mollivirus affects only amoebae and is not dangerous to humans, but its existence has raised fears that deadly pathogens, such as smallpox or unknown viruses, may lurk in permafrost.
Activities related to drilling oil wells and mining operations in permafrost conditions can bring to life microbes that have been at rest for millennia.
2. Tick-borne disease
Ticks are likely to look for new habitats as the climate warms up. And with them diseases will spread, such as tick-borne encephalitis. The outbreak occurs mainly during a warm time, when the mites( and people) are most active.
Another "tick" problem - Lyme disease, can also spread to new areas, as mites move north. An article from Ecohealth magazine in 2008 says that ixodid mites( the major vectors of Lyme disease) will have 213% more habitat in Canada in 2080 if climate change continues on the same course.
1. Cholera
Lethal cholera tops the list of the most dangerous diseases associated with climate change. The disease spreads through contaminated water.
In a study from 2014 presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, it was suggested that both increased heat and floods associated with climate change could lead to an outbreak of cholera in areas already suffering from poor sanitation. Flooding can spread contaminated water for long distances, whereas when drought, many cholera bacteria( cholera vibrios) will concentrate in small amounts of water.
Cholera loves warm weather, so the hotter it gets on Earth, and the warmer the water becomes, the higher the likelihood of spreading this disease.
