Climate change could trigger viral spill overs, new pandemics: study

Climate change could trigger viral spill overs, new pandemics: study

Subject: Environment

Context-

• According to new research, an effect of climate change may be seen in an increased risk of a “viral spillover” in some regions, which could trigger new pandemics in coming years.
• Climate change could shift the species range of certain viral vectors and reservoirs northward, and the High Arctic zone could become a fertile ground for emerging pandemics.

Viral spill over-

• Viruses may infect a new host from a reservoir host (in which it usually resides) by being able to transmit sustainably in a novel host, a process known as viral spillover.

Study of an Arctic lake-

• A study from the sediments and soil samples of Lake Hazen in Canada (  the largest High Arctic lake by volume in the world, and the region’s largest freshwater ecosystem) found that the chances of a virus moving to a new host increases with runoff from glacier melt.
• As temperatures increase, the melting of glaciers increases as well, and there is a greater possibility for previously ice trapped viruses and bacteria to find new hosts.

Disease potential

• As long as viruses and their ‘bridge vectors’ — which act as hosts and lead to their spread— are not simultaneously present in the environment, the likelihood of dramatic events probably remains low.
• However climate change leads to shifts in species ranges and distributions, new associations can emerge, bringing in vectors that can mediate viral spillovers.