Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a mosquito-borne virus that is primarily found in North America and the Caribbean. Over the past decade there has been an increase in virus activity, including large outbreaks in human and horse populations. Predicted climate change is expected to affect the range of mosquitoes including vectors of EEEV, which may alter disease risk posing a public health concern.
During an AAEP Roundtable presentation sponsored by CareCredit, Sally DeNotta, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, from the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and Angela Pelzel-McCluskey, DVM, MS, equine epidemiologist for the USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services, discussed the current and future impact of climate change on infectious diseases.
Local climates are changing in many regions, with more natural disasters occurring and in larger geographic scopes. This is having a significant impact on vector-borne disease transmission. Vector insects are flourishing with warmer temperatures and greater precipitation, exotic vectors are entering new areas, and reservoir hosts are expanding. DeNotta and Pelzel-McCluskey said this is happening all over the country, increasing the incidence of diseases covered by AAEP-recommended core vaccines as well as risk-based diseases.
DeNotta gave some examples of amplified risks:
- Increased risk of wildlife interactions increases rabies risk.
- Structural damage and debris during tornadoes and hurricanes increase the risk of projectile injuries and tetanus in wounds.
- Standing water immersion increases the risk of noninfectious diseases of the skin and hooves and potential sepsis.
- Standing water provides breeding grounds for arbovirus vectors to increase incidence of West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).
- Flooding creates situations of congestion and crowding of horses into smaller areas on a farm or at evacuation centers, potentially increasing the incidence of risk-based diseases.