Examining the relationship between infectious diseases and flooding in Europe: A systematic literature review and summary of possible public health interventions

Brown, Lisa; Murray, Virginia

This systematic literature review aimed to identify and examine the relationship between infectious disease incidence and flooding in order to gain a better understanding of: OUTCOMe (COMBiNeD wiTH OR) amoebiasis, bacillary dysentery, burul*, campylo*, chikungunya, cholera, communicable disease*, contamination, crypto*, dengue, dengue virus, dermatitis, diarrhea*, diarrhea*, disease*, disease vector*, disease outbreak*, epidemic*, enteric fever, Escherichia coli, gastrointestinal, giardia*, hanta virus infections, health, health effect*, health impact*, hemorrhagic fever, hepatitis A, hepatitis e, illness, infectio*, infectious disease*, Japanese encephalitis, legionellosis, leptospirosis, lyme disease, lymphatic filariasis, malaria, morbidity, mosquito*, norovirus, naeg*, outbreak*, onchocerciasis, physical health, plague, pollut*, public health, q fever, risk factor*, rodent*, rodentborne, rodent-borne, rodent related, rodent-related, salmonellosis, sars virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, shigellosis, schistosomiasis, tick*, tick-borne encephalitis, tularaemia, tularemia, typhoid, water, waterborne, water-borne, water related, water-related, west nile fever, vector*, vectorborne, vector-borne, vector related, vector-related, yellow fever, yersini* risk, rising temperatures, overcrowding, poor sanitation, poor health care, poverty, and an abundance of rats and other animal reservoirs. 39 Rodent-borne pathogens can be indirectly affected by ecological determinants of food sources which have an effect on the size of rodent populations. For example, lack of garbage management and collection following flooding where rubbish is left on the streets contributes to an increased rodent population. 38 Appendices A, C summarize the key studies assessing the relationship between flooding and rodent-borne diseases.