Scientists concerned climate change may help spread of West Nile ... - WWSB
Scientists concerned climate change may help spread of West Nile virus
(CNN) - Some scientists said they are worried climate change might make West Nile virus more prevalent.
That is because warmer temperatures and more rain make it easier for mosquitoes, the vectors responsible for transmitting the disease to humans, to reproduce.
Those same conditions also make it easier for the virus to replicate.
Not only could climate change make cases more common in areas where West Nile has been reported, but it may also help the virus spread to areas that haven’t seen it yet.
Germany reported its first case in 2021.
West Nile can bring unpleasant symptoms like headaches, joint pains, rashes, vomiting and diarrhea.
Most people recover fully with no issues, but about one in 150 patients develop brain and nervous system infections that can be fatal.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.