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Livestock infectious diseases in a changing climate
About Livestock infectious diseases in a changing climate
With the global climate changing significantly over recent decades, and continuing to do so despite efforts to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, infectious diseases once considered unlikely in the UK are now emerging or becoming more common.
Many livestock pathogens (viruses, bacteria and parasites) are sensitive to a changing climate, because they depend on specific environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and rainfall for their survival and/or development. Additionally, some pathogens are transmitted between animals by vectors or require intermediate hosts as part of their life-cycle, both vectors and intermediate hosts are themselves sensitive to changes in climate.
- Changes to the climate of the UK such as warmer, wetter winters are increasing survival of parasites and vectors, allowing more ticks, midges and fluke snails to survive into spring
- Warmer conditions in spring and autumn extend grazing seasons and allow vectors and parasites to remain active for longer, increasing infection pressure to grazing livestock
- New diseases are emerging or expanding their range into the UK, warmer temperatures allow non-native vectors and diseases to establish, bringing new disease risks
- Extreme weather events disrupt grazing and parasite control i.e. flooding can spread parasites or intermediate hosts from one area to another
- Current control programmes may become less effective, traditional timing of treatments and pasture management plans are often based on historic climate patterns that no longer reflect the current risk
- Lack of monitoring of new and emerging vector-borne and climate-sensitive infectious diseases could lead to delayed responses to disease outbreaks
- Unpredictable transmission patterns and evolving pathogen virulence can delay diagnosis of climate-sensitive infectious diseases
- Increased antimicrobial use in response to climate-related disease stressors accelerates selection for AMR
