The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns of an increased risk as climate change progresses in food-borne, water-borne, and animal-borne diseases.
Salmonella is a greater risk in higher temperatures, as bacteria growth increases in warm environments. Flooding can also cause sewage overflow, contaminating crops.
Flooding and heavy rain can increase parasites in drinking water, and storm runoff from cities can contaminate bodies of water used for recreation.
Ticks that carry Lyme disease will expand their geographical range as the world warms. Higher temperatures are also favorable for West Nile disease carried by mosquitoes.
A Chartered Institute of Environmental Health conference in the U.K. in May discussed the threat of malaria continuing to spread well beyond its tropical range.
Tropical diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever have already made their way to the European continent, according to The Guardian.
