Climate change can drive global outbreaks in dengue, Chikungunya: WHO

Climate change can lead to global outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases, warned the World Health Organization on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Climate change can lead to global outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases dengue, zika and chikungunya, warned the World Health Organization on Wednesday.

The incidence of infections caused by arboviruses, such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya, has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades.

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About half of the world’s population is now at risk of dengue with an estimated 100-400 million infections occurring each year. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is found on nearly all continents and to date, 115 countries have reported transmission.

While Zika virus disease has declined globally, to date, 89 countries have current or previous spread of Zika virus.

These diseases, that spread from mosquitoes to people, are causing an increasing number of outbreaks worldwide, with climate change, deforestation and urbanisation being some of the major risk factors, that allow mosquitoes to adapt better to new environments and spread the risk of infection geographically further, including to the European region.

“We are really at the right time to scale up the advocacy for the threat of arboviruses globally,” Dr Raman Velayudhan, Unit Head, Global Programme on control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, WHO, said at a media briefing session.

Velayudhan said around 129 countries are at risk of dengue and it is endemic in over 100 countries. From about half a million cases in 2000, it has exponentially grown to 5.2 million in 2019.