Is Global Warming Causing the West Nile Virus Outbreak? - Living Green Magazine

By Lawrence Karol for TakePart.com

“The nation is heading toward the worst outbreak of West Niledisease in the 13 years that the virus has been on this continent,” The New York Times reported yesterday. “So far this year, there have been 1,118 cases and 41 deaths reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, director of the agency’s division of vector-borne diseases, added “That’s the highest number of cases ever reported to the C.D.C. by the third week of August.”

Scientific American has a theory as to why this might be the case:  “The fact that the worst U.S. West Nile epidemic in history happens to be occurring during what will likely prove to be the hottest summer on record doesn’t surprise epidemiologists. They have been predicting the effects of climate change onWest Nile for over a decade. If they’re right, the U.S. is only headed for worse epidemics.”

Science writer Christie Wilcox goes on to say, “Higher temperatures bolster the chances of infection on many fronts. Temperature has a profound effect starting at the source: the mosquito . . . In the United States, epicenters of transmission have been linked closely to above-average summer temperatures. In particular, the strain of West Nile in theU.S.spreads better during heat waves, and the spread of West Nile westward was correlated with unseasonable warmth. High temperatures are also to blame for the virus jumping from one species of mosquito to a much more urban-loving one, leading to outbreaks across the U.S.”

Real Clear Science came to the same conclusions in a report on August 20. They stated, “The prime culprit in the spread of West Nile is mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans when they bite . . . Climate is a major accomplice, however, according to David Dausey a professor of public health at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Penn. ‘One of the things we’ve worried about for some time is that a changing climate could lead to more mosquito-borne disease,’ he said in an interview. And while you can’t attribute a single outbreak to climate change alone, he said, ‘climate theory tells us that weather extremes will become more common.’ ”

Real Clear Science added that, “Another climate factor that makes for bigger mosquito populations is the fact that spring is coming earlier and winters have been milder in recent years, both of which give insects of all kinds a running start at the breeding season.”

Read the rest of this article at http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/08/24/west-nile-virus-and-other-diseases-may-have-unexpected-accomplice-climate-change

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Tags: climate change, disease, drought, environmental news, global warming, health effects, Living Greeen, West Nile virus

Category: Climate Change, Featured Articles, TakePart

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