Water Wheel Nov/Dec 2020: Waterborne Disease

Abstract

Billharzia and its snail vectors under the spotlight in current study Climate change and its predicted associated changes to rainfall patterns and air temperatures is one of the most important threats that aquatic ecosystems face in the 21st century. Freshwater ecosystems are some of the most at-risk habitats, particularly where these systems are already exploited by humans (UNU-EHS 2016). The most prominent predicted ecological consequences of climate change include modification to water quantity and quality, aquatic species distribution and ranges, and increased waterborne and vector-borne diseases (see Dallas and Rivers-Moore 2013 for a full review). Climate change also poses a great threat to human health, and it is predicted that by 2030 sub-Saharan Africa will carry the greatest burden of mortality due to impacts of climate change (WHO 2009).

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