Evidence of the impact of climate change on the transmission and incidence of foodborne diseases comes from a
number of sources, e.g. seasonality of foodborne and diarrheal disease, changes in disease patterns that occur as a
consequence of a temperature2
, and association between increased incidence of foodborne illness and severe weather
events (e.g. floods, draughts, storms)
3,4. Extreme climate events may alter the risk of pathogen infections and
diseases in both animals and plants, modifying the host–pathogen dynamics in a wide range of species. Valuable
information on complex interactions that occur between hosts (meat animals), pathogens, and the environment, is
needed in order to pave the way for predictive models and ultimately, early and efficient response to disease threats5
.
For instance, the change of local climatic conditions may influence local vegetation and crop production which, in
turn, may affect the quality/safety of animal feed and provoke changes in food (meat) animal epidemiology6
.
Furthermore, insects and other vectors may carry foodborne pathogens and enter new ecological zones. Therefore,
farmers may need to adjust the timing of on-farm pest control as pest life cycles also respond to climate change.