Climate change could bring deadly diseases to the UK, experts warn

Scientists raise an alarm over the growing risk of the world's deadliest diseases spreading in the UK.

They are now warning thatclimate change reshapes a global temperature map and can make it more likely to get infected with 'tropical' fevers and viruses on the British Isles.

Zika, 'breakbone’ and Dengue fever are among the diseases that cause concern.

There is also a huge risk that they can get undetected and misdiagnosed as doctors aren’t used to seeing them in the country.

The warning comes as the world is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

People have already been informed about the possible need for a new vaccineamid the rise in tick-borne virus infection.

Climate change can lead to a deadly pandemic in the UK

Leading experts warned the MPs that deadly diseases, which are transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks, are bound for Britain due to climate change.

Some of these viruses have a death rate as high as 50%.

Scientists are worried that initial infections might go unnoticed or misdiagnosed because of the unfamiliar pathogens.

Professor Bryan Charleston, director of the Pirbright Institute, which studies infectious diseases in animals, said there was a 'slow march north' of insects which could transmit diseases to the UK.

This could lead to numerous previously considered ‘tropical’ pathogens becoming effectively native in Britain.

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What are the diseases scientists fear?

One of the diseases of concern is Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) which has a death rate of almost 40% and has already reached France.

The World Health Organization (WHO) listed it as one of its nine 'priority diseases' to tackle.

Professor James Wood, head of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, said:

Some tick-borne infections, such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, are highly likely to spread in the UK through our ticks at some point.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF), a virus carried by mosquitoes and capable of killing up to half of those infected, is another possible threat.

Zika and 'breakbone' fever could also reach the UK.

Professor Sir Peter Horby, director of the Pandemic Sciences Institute at Oxford University, said climate change was rewriting the borders of where disease could be found.

He added:

Dengue which is classically a South American, South East Asian disease and is hyperendemic in those countries [has] spread North, you're now seeing transmission in the Mediterranean.

CCHF, RVF and Zika have all been named by the WHO as having the potential to spark a pandemic in the future.

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Sources used:

- Mail Online: 'World's deadliest diseases are coming to the UK because of climate change: Mosquitos and ticks carrying viruses with death rates of up to 50% will make Britain home, experts warn MPs'