ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP):Changes in climate can increase infectious disease risk in animals, with the possibility that these diseases could spread to humans, warn researchers. The study, published in the journal ‘Science’, supports a phenomenon known as “thermal mismatch hypothesis,” which is the idea that the greatest risk for infectious disease in cold climate-adapted animals — such as polar bears — occurs as temperatures rise, Science Daily reported . The hypothesis proposes that smaller organisms like pathogens function across a wider range of temperatures than larger organisms, such as hosts or animals. “Understanding how the spread, severity and distribution of animal infectious diseases could change in the future has reached a new level of importance as a result of the global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, a pathogen which appears to have originated from wildlife,” said study co-author Jason Rohr from the University of Notre Dame in the US. “Given that the majority of emerging infectious disease events have a wildlife origin, this is yet another reason to implement mitigation strategies to reduce climate change,” Rohr added. The research team collected data from more than 7,000 surveys of different animal host-parasite systems across all seven continents to provide a diverse representation … Continue reading Global warming likely to raise disease risk for animals