Plague Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Plague, including details on bubonic plague, yersinia pestis, infection, types, treatment.

Climate Change Effects on Plague and Tularemia in the United States.

Nakazawa Y, Williams R, Peterson AT, Mead P, Staples E, Gage KL

Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

Plague and tularemia are serious zoonotic diseases endemic to North America. We evaluated spatial patterns in their transmission in view of changing climates. First, we tested whether observed shifts since the 1960s are consistent with expected patterns of shift given known climate changes over that period. Then, we used general circulation model results summarizing global patterns of changing climates into the future to forecast likely shifts in patterns of transmission over the next 50 years. The results indicate that these diseases are indeed shifting in accord with patterns of climatic shift, but that overall geographic shifts will likely be subtle, with some northward movement of southern limits and possibly northward movement of northern limits as well.

Published 30 November 2007 in Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Plague Research Today. All Rights Reserved.