The effect of climate change on Australian arboviruses

Abstract

Since it was first raised more than 20 years ago, there has been increasing concern about the potential impacts of climate change on mosquito-borne viral diseases in Australia. This has generated a number of predictions and projections on the effect of global warming on the incidence and spread of Australian arboviruses. These have been discussed recently by Russell and Jacobs & colleagues and thus need not be repeated in detail here. In addition, it was also the topic of a previous ‘In Focus’ article. This paper will briefly focus on the complex interplay between climate-associated factors which may affect the incidence and spread of mosquito-borne viruses, and show how these factors may influence the ecologies of the major Australian arboviruses.