Impacts of Climate Change on Vector-Borne Pathogens: Emerging Threats to Livestock Health and Production

Abstract

Climate change, one of the greatest challenges of the current century, increasingly affects the geographic distribution, seasonal abundance, and transmission capacity of arthropod vectors such as ticks, mosquitoes, and flies. The present study aimed to review the available scientific evidence on the ecological and epidemiological mechanisms by which climate change affects the transmission dynamics of vector-borne diseases in farm animals. Adaptation and risk-reduction strategies, including integrated vector management, vaccine development, climate-based early warning systems, and changes to farm management practices, were reviewed by the present study. These environmental changes have facilitated the emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne diseases in livestock, posing significant threats to animal health, food security, and the global economy. Higher temperatures, milder winters, and changes in precipitation patterns have expanded vector distributions to higher latitudes and elevations and prolonged their periods of activity. Consequently, diseases traditionally endemic to tropical regions, including Rift Valley fever, theileriosis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, were observed in temperate regions. Many of these diseases are zoonotic, highlighting the need for a One Health approach. Direct effects on production included weight loss, reduced milk yield, abortion, infertility, and increased mortality, all of which resulted in major economic losses to the livestock industry. Finally, the present study underscored the need to address these emerging threats and sustain livestock production in a changing climate.