Climate change increase risk of new viruses, infectious diseases in India

Changing climatic conditions, particularly temperature and moisture variations such as extreme rainfall in some places and drought in others, will lead to a surge in the spread of vector-borne and infectious diseases across India. The prospect of climate change leading to an increased burden with the spread of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria looms large. According to public health expert Poornima Prabhakaran, steadily rising temperatures affect the pattern of transmission of disease agents like viruses as well as their vectors through a number of pathways. Many respiratory viruses are of wildlife origin and climate change can impact the emergence of new viruses by changing the ecology and behaviour of those wild animals.

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