Could climate change be the culprit in spread of Zika virus?
- Abstract
The Zika virus sweeping across South America may be only one of several long-dormant infections that will resurface in coming years because of climate change and deforestation, says a Johns Hopkins University neurologist now leading research efforts in Colombia, one of the countries hardest hit by the disease. According to Dr. Carlos Pardo Villamizar, warmer climates may have triggered the emergence and subsequent spread of the Zika virus by making more of the world habitable for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, its main carrier. Higher temperatures and dryness have been linked to the spread of another mosquito-borne illness, dengue, and deforestation is thought to be a cause of the most recent Ebola outbreak in Africa.
- Resource Type
- Magazine/newspaper article
- Author
- Chris Kraul
- Publication
- LA Times
- Date
- March 9, 2016
- Organization Type
- News
- Health and Human Impact
- Vector-borne disease
- Other
- Health surveillance