Climatic changes could lead to more outbreaks of bubonic plague among human populations. Up to 3,000 cases of plague are reported each year and researchers found that the bacterium that caused the deadly disease became more widespread following warmer springs and wetter summers, BBC TV reported.
The disease occurs naturally in many parts of the world, and the team hopes their findings will help officials limit the risk of future outbreaks.
The bacterium Yersinia pestis is believed to have triggered the Black Death that killed more than 20 million people in the Middle Ages.
The international team of scientists, who focused their research on Kazakhstan, said the disease was widespread among rodent populations.
They said, the desert regions of Central Asia are known to contain natural foci of plague where the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) is the primary host.
Plague spread requires both a high abundance of hosts and a sufficient number of active fleas as vectors transmitting plague bacteria between hosts, the Norwegian scientist added.
Fleas became active when the temperature exceeded 10C (50F) so a warm frost-free spring led to an early start to breeding. Plague is passed to humans through flea bites.
The study showed that just a 1C (1.8F) rise in the springtime temperature led to a 59 percent increase in the prevalence of the disease.
The greater prevalence of plague in the region's wildlife increased the risk of local people becoming infected.
Each year, up to 3,000 cases of humans contracting bubonic plague are reported in Asia, parts of Africa, the US and South America.
The researchers hope their findings will help health officials put measures in place to limit the impact of future outbreaks.
But Professor Stenseth warned that recent changes to the region's climate suggested that warmer springs were becoming more frequent, increasing the risk of human infections.
Comments
Comments are closed.