title: Climate change and infectious diseases in the Arctic: establishment of a circumpolar working group.
abstract: The Arctic, even more so than other parts of the world, has warmed substantially over the past few decades. Temperature and humidity influence the rate of development, survival and reproduction of pathogens and thus the incidence and prevalence of many infectious diseases. Higher temperatures may also allow infected host species to survive winters in larger numbers, increase the population size and expand their habitat range. The impact of these changes on human disease in the Arctic has not been fully evaluated. There is concern that climate change may shift the geographic and temporal distribution of a range of infectious diseases. Many infectious diseases are climate sensitive, where their emergence in a region is dependent on climate-related ecological changes. Most are zoonotic diseases, and can be spread between humans and animals by arthropod vectors, water, soil, wild or domestic animals. Potentially climate-sensitive zoonotic pathogens of circumpolar concern include Brucella spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella spp., Clostridium botulinum, Francisella tularensis, Borrelia burgdorferi, Bacillus anthracis, Echinococcus spp., Leptospira spp., Giardia spp., Cryptosporida spp., Coxiella burnetti, rabies virus, West Nile virus, Hantaviruses, and tick-borne encephalitis viruses.
authors.affiliation: Arctic Investigations Program, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Parkinson
authors.affiliation: Arctic Research Centre (ARCUM), Umea University, Umeå, Sweden ; Division of Infectious Diseases, Umea University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Evengard
authors.affiliation: Office of the Chief Scientist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Semenza
authors.affiliation: Zoonoses Division Centre for Food-borne, Environmental & Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogden
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology Research, Staten Serum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Malene L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Børresen
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Health Services, Alaska Native Health Consortium, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berner
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Health Services, Alaska Native Health Consortium, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brubaker
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Bacteriology, Umea University, Umea, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjöstedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Virology, Umeå University, Umea, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evander
authors.affiliation: School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA ; School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hondula
authors.affiliation: Global Change and Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe, European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Menne
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Rostov State Medical University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pshenichnaya
authors.affiliation: Arctic Investigations Program, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Prabhu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gounder
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Tricia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Larose
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Revich
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology & Wildlife, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hueffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinarian Public Health, University of Agricultural Sciences and National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albihn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001110:Arctic Regions; D057231:Climate Change; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004782:Environmental Health; D005260:Female; D006285:Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Arctic region; circumpolar working group; climate change; infectious diseases