`Deadly Dozen’ DiseasesCould Worsen With Warming, Group Says

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has released a list of 12 diseases afflicting humans and wildlife

that are likely to spread in a warming world and recommended that scientists and world health officials begin to closely monitor their movement and prepare to mitigate their impact. The New York-based conservation group said the diseases — avian influenza, cholera, ebola, Lyme disease, plague, tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, red tide, babesiosis, and various parasites — can be expected to spread as temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change. Monitoring the geographical movement of these diseases is crucial not only for human health but also to the world economy, the report said, noting that since the mid-1990s the rise of livestock diseases, including avian influenza, has caused an estimated $100 billion in economic losses. Some strains of avian influenza can be transferred from birds to humans, and wild birds can act as vectors of the disease. The report, “The Deadly Dozen: Wildlife Diseases in the Age of Climate Change,” was released at the International Union for Conservation of Nature congress in Barcelona.