Global climate change is bringing new risks to travellers in areas that have never seen tropical diseases before. And the latest warning to be issued by public health experts concerns the world's second most dangerous disease. After Malaria, schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) is the most widespread disease in tropical climates, an infection of parasitic worms that causes serious health problems or death for over 200 million people every year.
There is an ongoing global effort to tackle the disease, with vaccines and huge public health efforts backed by the likes of Bill Gates, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently gave grant of $30 million (£20 million) to establish the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), a partnership at Imperial College London including the foundation, the World Health Organization and the Harvard School of Public Health. Carried by snails and flatworms, schistosomiasis was up until very recently confined to areas of the world with tropical climates and mostly Africa. However, there have recently been cases in Spain, Italy and Greece, leading to warnings that the spread of the invertebrates that carry the disease into the Mediterranean basin poses a previously unheard risk to locals and tourists alike.
There's been a noticeable uptick in cases due to the spread of a parasite-carrying flatworm, researchers at KU Leuven University in Belgium warn. According to the study, this health concern is predicted to worsen with climate change now facilitating the survival of freshwater snails the vectors for transmitting the parasite across many parts of southern Europe. Often known as bilharzia, schistosomiasis ranks as the second most widespread infectious disease after malaria, responsible for more than 200 million infections each year.
Taking a dip in contaminated freshwaters like rivers, lakes or ponds can lead to contracting the disease. Those infected may experience a variety of symptoms such as skin rashes, anaemia, abdominal pains, and finding blood in urine or stools. Distressingly, without treatment, schistosomiasis can cause severe complications including infertility, bladder cancer, liver fibrosis, and hinder children's development, reports the Express.
The data compiled by biologists from KU Leuven, alongside experts from the Royal Museum for Central Africa and the University of Copenhagen, focuses on the temperature ranges that these disease-bearing freshwater snails can withstand. "We find that these snails can easily adapt to new conditions," said Tim Maes from KU Leuven. "They can thus easily colonise new regions like Europe.
" The data was then combined with models predicting European climate over the next century to estimate the future distribution of the snail. As such, the analysis indicates that large parts of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece will have climates conducive to its survival. Due to climate change, an increasing number of tropical infectious diseases are being introduced to Europe.
Schistosomiasis has been found on the French island of Corsica since 2013 and more recently in the city of Almeria in Spain. While other research has shown the parasite itself is able to survive in a temperate climate, Tine Huyse, researcher from KU Leuven and the Royal Museum for Central Africa, argued that "you need all three elements, snail, parasite and humans, to complete the infection circle." While travellers from Africa bringing the parasite to Europe do not yet present a large risk, "because of climate change, in the future, the three elements will all be thriving in the European climate, allowing the infectious disease to spread," Huyse continued.
Sudinfo argued that the "increasing threat" of schistosomiasis in southern Europe underscores the "broader impacts" of climate change on public health. The disease is transmitted via fresh water, river, canals, lakes and drinking and washing water from untreated or unfiltered sources. For more information on how to protect yourself if you are travelling in tropical areas or parts of the Med that may now post a risk, the British NHS website has a full run down on the risks, treatments and preventative measures.
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