The size of historic cholera outbreaks has been linked to unusual spikes in global temperatures (Image: Gloucestershire Live)
The global climate crisis is now being linked to the resurgence of deadly diseases, with new research suggesting that significant climatic changes are creating conditions ripe for larger outbreaks of illnesses such as cholera. Despite the UK having eradicated this waterborne disease since 1893, scientists warn that increasing climate “anomalies” could lead to “unusually large outbreaks.”
This alarming connection comes from a study by the Barcelona Institute of Global Health, where experts have been scrutinising historical weather patterns in conjunction with data on cholera outbreaks throughout the 20th century. Their findings indicate a disturbing correlation between “El Nino” events and the heightened spread and mutation of the disease.
For over a century, the triggers behind massive cholera outbreaks remained unknown, but this latest research, featured in the journal Neglected Tropical Diseases, lends weight to the theory that rising global sea temperatures correlate with the proliferation of the diarrhoea-inducing pathogen.
To establish this association, researchers from Barcelona conducted statistical analyses on the sixth cholera pandemic, which ravaged then-British India from 1899 to 1923. They also delved into information regarding the ongoing cholera epidemic, which started in 1961 and has resulted in over a million fatalities.
Cholera infections typically occur after consuming unclean water, but can be treated with medication (Image: Getty)
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Their study revealed puzzling patterns in cholera fatalities from 1904 to 1907, aligning with an El Nino event that caused a spike in global temperatures. This correlation between significant shifts in the climate and the persistent spread of the disease could be crucial for forecasting “unusual” cholera epidemics amid rising temperatures due to human-induced climate change, reports Gloucestershire Live.
Yet, there’s a looming concern that more cholera strains might surface, potentially outsmarting current medical interventions.
Dr. Rodo and his colleague Dr. Mercedes Pascual conveyed their insights to Medical News: “Variation in climate conditions or the evolutionary change of a pathogen can be important drivers of major epidemics and pandemics.
“But these two drivers are typically considered separately in studies seeking to explain the emergence of unusually large outbreaks…here, we present indirect evidence that the two can act together to synergistically underlie the establishment and widespread transmission of a new strain.”
Nonetheless, it’s critical to remember that correlation does not imply causation, and further research is essential to decode the dynamics of these climate-related cholera outbreaks.
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