ABSTRACT
Climate change is a major factor in the emergence of disease pandemics. It provides a reservoir for the reproduction, multiplication, distribution, and survival of pathogens, vectors, and hosts. Climatic factors promote the pathogen’s survival in harsh conditions and increase the disease burden in the human population. Global warming, deforestation, and urbanisation are the major climatic factors that potentiate zoonoses and vector-borne pathogens. The increasing intensity of animal–human interaction affects the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic disease worldwide. As per the literature, more than 60% of human pathogens are zoonotic in origin, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and other pathogens. This chapter provides a brief description of the involvement of climatic factors in the emergence of four major zoonotic and vector-borne infectious diseases: dengue fever, malaria, plague, and encephalitis. Furthermore, it covers the present and future treatment prospects for these diseases. The role of climatic change in enriching pathogens’ protection against host defence mechanisms is also deliberated in this chapter.
