Climate change is rapidly reshaping the global landscape of infectious diseases, creating urgent scientific, public health, and policy challenges. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and ecosystem disruption are influencing pathogen survival, vector distribution, host susceptibility, and human exposure in complex and often nonlinear ways. These changes are already evident in the expanding geographic range of vector-borne diseases, the resurgence of climate-sensitive infections, and the emergence of novel transmission dynamics across diverse settings.
We propose a Special Issue in Parasitology (Cambridge University Press) that examines the mechanisms through which climate change drives infectious disease risk and adaptation to climate-driven changes, integrating evidence across environmental science, epidemiology, microbiology, and social determinants of health. It will be led by our distinguished Guest Editors Dr Hannah Vineer (Liverpool) and Professor Eric Morgan (Queen's Belfast) and hopefully will synthesize current empirical findings while highlighting methodological advances, such as climate-informed disease modeling, genomic surveillance, and remote sensing, that enable more precise attribution of climate signals to infectious disease outcomes. Particular attention will be given to how climate variability and extremes (e.g., heatwaves, floods, droughts) amplify vulnerability in low-resource and marginalized populations, exacerbating existing health inequities.
Beyond documenting risks, the Special Issue will emphasize implications for parasite evolution, preparedness, surveillance, and intervention. We will discuss adaptive strategies, including early warning systems, climate-resilient health infrastructure, vector control innovations, and policy frameworks that integrate climate adaptation with infectious disease prevention. By bridging disciplinary silos, the Special Issue aims to move the field beyond descriptive associations toward actionable, evidence-based responses.
Guest Editors: Dr Hannah Vineer, University of Liverpool and Professor Eric Morgan, Queen's University Belfast
Deadline Date for submissions: 31st March 2027