DAVIS, Calif., Jun 26, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A U.S.-led international team
of scientists said it's determined extreme climatic weather events can produce a
sharp increase in infectious diseases.
The scientists, led by University of California-Davis researchers, said they
determined how climate extremes associated with global warning -- such as the
increased frequency of droughts and floods -- can create conditions in which
diseases that are tolerated individually might converge and cause mass deaths
among livestock or wildlife.
The study suggests such conditions are capable of altering normal host-pathogen
relationships, causing a "perfect storm" of multiple infectious outbreaks that
could trigger epidemics with catastrophic mortality.
The research is detailed in the online journal PLoS One.
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Copyright 2008 by United Press International