Climate Change and Human Health Impacts in the United States: An Update on the Results of the U.S. National Assessment

Ebi, Kristie L.; Mills, David M.; Smith, Joel B.; Grambsch, Anne

Recent studies examining the potential impacts of climate variability and change on the risks and incidence of water-and foodborne illnesses strongly support the conclusions of Rose et al. (2001) that the risk of water-and food-borne illness will likely increase with climate change. Specifically, Curriero et al. (2001) and Kistemann et al. (2002) found that extreme precipitation events increase the loading of contaminants to waterways, and Casman et al. (2001) concluded that climate change could increase the risk of illness associated with Cryptosporidium parvum. D'Souza et al. (2004) addressed the relationship of food-borne illness in response to changes in ambient temperature in Australia and found an association between increases in the lagged monthly mean temperature and increases in the number of notifications of salmonellosis infections in five Australian cities. The authors also noted that following current food preparation and storage recommendations could offset any climate change-induced increase in risk.