Climate Remains a Question in Zika Virus Spread

The Wellcome Trust just published a Q&A with Columbia University/IRI’s Madeleine Thomson in which she explains the relationship between Zika and climate, as well her outlook for future epidemics and the role of climate science, excerpted in part below.

How are Zika virus and the climate related?








People are often asked questions around climate change, but if you are down in the weeds as a malaria, dengue or Zika control person, you are really largely dealing in the timeframe of climate variability. What is happening now? What happened last year? What might happen next year in this particular locality? However, policy makers still need to be aware of what the longer-term trends might be so they can build the institutional capacity needed to respond effectively down the line. You need climate scientists who are able to support decision makers across a range of time and spatial scales.


I would incorporate some fairly straightforward information on climate and environmental disease drivers in all epidemiological training that happens around the world. Outbreak response people can work with partners in countries to get the best data, but if the health sector doesn’t understand the issues, particularly around climate variability and change, then it’s very hard for them to use the information effectively.

Read the full text and a Spanish translation of the interview here on the Wellcome Trust blog.

This week, the Pan American Health Organization is hosting a meeting in Washington, DC, to consult with experts about the Zika virus. Attendees will discuss the implications of the virus on public health as well as priorities for Zika research going forward.

Source: PAHO.

Countries and territories with autochthonous of Zika virus circulation 2007-2016. Source: PAHO.

The influence of climate and weather on the virus is an important component. Thomson, a senior research scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, will be among those attending. IRI is a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre on Early Warning Systems for Malaria and other Climate Sensitive Diseases, which Thomson directs. Also attending the meeting is Ángel Muñoz, a recent Columbia University doctoral graduate and adjunct researcher at IRI, who is currently a postdoctoral research associate at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

Thomson and Muñoz will be lending their expertise based on previous research and application of that research, including that of dengue fever, which is transmitted via the same mosquito as Zika.