Climate change and Vibrio: Environmental determinants for predictive risk assessment

Climate change significantly impacts the incidence and abundance of microorganisms, including those essential for environmental cycles and those pathogenic to humans and animals. Shifts in conditions favorable for microbial growth have expanded the geographic range of many pathogens, contributing to the emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases. Waterborne diseases pose severe risks in regions where adverse climate conditions intersect with population vulnerabilities, especially inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure. Since many waterborne pathogens play crucial roles in the environment, such as in carbon and nitrogen cycling, their eradication is not possible. However, predictive intelligence models that identify environmental heuristics conducive to the growth of pathogenic strains, integrating microbiological, sociological, and weather data, can offer anticipatory decision-making capabilities, reducing infection risks. Here, the objective was to analyze data from studies since the 1960s to identify environmental determinants driving the occurrence and distribution of pathogenic Vibrio spp., enabling predictive modeling of the effects of climate change on cholera and noncholera vibriosis. The proliferation of Vibrio spp. in aquatic ecosystems has been linked to climate change and, concomitantly, with increased environmental disease transmission, notably cholera in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa and noncholera vibriosis in Northern Europe and along the Eastern seaboard of North America. Global predictive risk models for Vibrio cholerae have contributed to reduction in case fatality rates when coupled with individual and large-scale intervention early in outbreaks. These models, when appropriately modified, hold the potential to predict disease caused by all clinically relevant Vibrio spp. and other waterborne pathogens.