With climate change, malaria risk in Africa shifts, grows

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uof-swc113015.php

Public Release: 30-Nov-2015
Study: With climate change, malaria risk in Africa shifts, grows
University of Florida

A larger portion of Africa is currently at high risk for malaria transmission than previously predicted, according to a new University of Florida mapping study.

Under future climate regimes, the area where the disease can be transmitted most easily will shrink, but the total transmission zone will expand and move into new territory, according to the study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases.

By 2080, the study shows, the year-round, highest-risk transmission zone will move from coastal West Africa, east to the Albertine Rift, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The area suitable for seasonal, lower-risk transmission will shift north into coastal sub-Saharan Africa.

Most striking, some parts of Africa will become too hot for malaria.

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Cerebral malaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum transmitted by the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, is the most deadly form of the disease, killing around 584,000 people each year. Malaria can cause organ failure, unconsciousness, and coma, if left untreated, and is a major cause of decreased economic productivity in affected regions.

The study uses a model that takes into account the real, curved, physiological responses of both mosquitoes and the malaria parasite to temperature. This model shows an optimal transmission temperature for malaria that, at 25 degrees Celsius (77F), is 6 degrees Celsius(10.8F)lower than previous predictive models. [I wonder at what temperature the threat becomes negligible?]

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