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Advances in Climate-Associated Impact on Infectious Diseases

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 1965

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biological Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, 10589 Berlin, Germany
Interests: infectious diseases; public health; climate change

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Guest Editor
Center for Food Safety, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Interests: food safety; infectious diseases; public health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The intricate relationship between climate conditions and infectious diseases is an urgent and evolving field of study, demanding global attention and collaborative research. This Special Issue delves into the many ways in which changing climatic conditions influence the emergence, spread, and severity of infectious diseases and their vectors.

Spanning diverse ecosystems and regions, we intend to explore how rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events alter the habitats and behaviors of vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, and rodents, thereby impacting the epidemiology of diseases like malaria, dengue fever, Lyme disease, and many other zoonotic infections. This Special Issue aims to address the challenges faced by public health systems in adapting to these dynamic threats and further aims to highlight innovative strategies and technologies to mitigate these risks. Another topic of interest is the impact of changing climate conditions on food-related infections and subsequent measures for maintaining rigorous consumer protection measures.

Featuring cutting-edge research, reviews, and case studies, this Special Issue intends to further our understanding of the complex interplay between climate conditions and infectious diseases, ultimately guiding policymakers, healthcare professionals, and researchers in enhancing our understanding of the ecologic relationships between climate conditions and pathogen occurrence and ultimately discussing effective responses to safeguard global health.

Dr. Martin Heinrich Richter
Dr. Ynes Rosa Ortega
Dr. Jens André Hammerl
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pathogen emergence
  • climate-associated pathogens
  • vector emergence
  • pathogen ecology
  • One Health
  • global health

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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23 pages, 1222 KB  
Systematic Review
A One Health Approach to Climate-Driven Infectious Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strengthening Cross-Sectoral Responses for Resilient Health Systems
by Mercy Monden, Reem Hassanin, Hannah Sackeyfio and Franziska Wolf
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(1), 261; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010261 - 26 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1398
Abstract
Background: Climate change is increasingly altering the distribution and burden of infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa, where ecological diversity, fragile health systems, and widespread poverty heighten vulnerability. The One Health approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health, provides a useful framework for [...] Read more.
Background: Climate change is increasingly altering the distribution and burden of infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa, where ecological diversity, fragile health systems, and widespread poverty heighten vulnerability. The One Health approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health, provides a useful framework for addressing these climate-sensitive health challenges; its application in the region remains limited. Methods: This review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines and synthesized evidence from 30 peer-reviewed studies published between 2019 and 2025, identified through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Results: Studies consistently showed that rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events shifted malaria transmission into highland zones, modified schistosomiasis risk through changes in snail habitats, and drove diarrheal outbreaks following flooding. While One Health initiatives such as Ghana’s Climate-Smart One Health framework and university-led programmes in East Africa demonstrated promise, their impact remained constrained by donor dependence, institutional silos, and limited policy integration. Conclusions: To enhance climate resilience, national strategies need to integrate climate-informed surveillance, predictive modelling, and One Health governance. Future research should extend beyond malaria and schistosomiasis, incorporate longitudinal data, and establish standardized metrics for assessing One Health interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Climate-Associated Impact on Infectious Diseases)
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