NEWS: In its brochure "Mastering climate change in a healthy way", the Federal Ministry for the Environment provides information on pests that can transmit infectious agents to humans. These primarily include rodents, mosquitoes and ticks. It also deals with species-specific and regional influences of climate change on their occurrence, distribution, population size, activity, possibilities of hibernation and the ability to transmit new infections.

In addition to changing climatic conditions, worldwide travel and globalisation also favour the occurrence of foreign species and diseases in Germany.

Among rodents, red-backed voles in particular are being investigated, as they can transmit the hantavirus through saliva, urine or faeces. Infection can occur mainly through inhalation of virus-containing dusts or skin contact with contaminated material. Infections can cause fever, headaches, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting. Kidney disease can also occur. Weather events in particular, which trigger oak and beech mast years, are closely related to the occurrence of red-backed voles. Over the last 100 years, the frequency of mast years has increased from every 6 - 7 years to every 2 - 3 years due to the climate.

There are around 50 native mosquito species in Germany, which are largely dependent on standing water or wetlands due to their development conditions. In addition, the diurnal species of the Japanese bush mosquito and the Asian tiger mosquito have colonised Germany. While the distribution of the tiger mosquito is still limited to Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Thuringia, the bush mosquitoes can already be found throughout Germany. Mosquitoes can transmit the pathogens of various diseases such as malaria, Zika infections, chikungunya, dengue and West Nile fever. West Nile fever originally comes from Africa and was able to establish itself in Germany due to the long, hot summers. Scientists assume that it will continue to spread in Germany due to climate change.

Ticks are responsible for most infectious diseases transmitted to humans in Germany. The common wood tick from the shield tick family is the most common representative. In the course of its development, the tick needs multiple blood hosts in the form of animals or humans. They find their hosts through body heat, carbon dioxide (exhaled air) and butyric acid (sweat). Ticks can transmit the pathogens of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) during the blood meal. Climate change has improved the living conditions for ticks due to changes in temperature and humidity, so that they are active earlier and longer in the year and can hibernate better. In addition to the established species, new species have been transported to Germany via migratory birds and mammals from warmer regions. For example, the introduced Hyalomma shield tick species is considered a potential vector of Crimean-Congo fever.

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Sources:

• Rötelmaus: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/R%C3%B6telmaus.jpg
• Tiger mosquito: CDC/ James Gathany, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Aedes_Albopictus.jpg
• Common wood goat: James Lindsey, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Ixodes.ricinus.searching.jpg