Global Climate Change and the Spread of Malaria

Everyone enjoys a bit of summer heat, but no one as much as parasites and diseases! Unfortunately, global warming is opening new areas of the world, particularly in northern latitudes, to an everwidening range of pathogens and hosts, such as migratory birds and mosquitoes, which are cold sensitive. Malaria is one of those dreadful candidates for international spread. Since it kills more than a million people every year, Dr. Loiseau and her team decided to address its spread and transmission in Alaska, where the effects of climate change are bound to be dramatic. To understand how climate change will impact the transmission of avian malaria parasites overtime, she will fi rst monitor changes in malaria prevalence* and diversity through blood sampling and then investigate shifts in parasite patterns due to seasonal variance. In the future, she expects to develop predictive models to inform policy decisions relevant to the eradication of wildlife and human malaria.