Human health impacts (Infectious diseases) webinar: Bridging Science and Action
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is hosting a series of webinars, Indicators of Climate Change: Bridging Science and Action, as part of its efforts to track and report on climate change and its impacts on California. Each webinar will synthesize new science and data, and showcase state, local, Tribal or community actions on a selected climate change topic. OEHHA will co-convene each webinar with one or more state agency partners with responsibilities relating to the topic.
Webinar #3: Impacts on human health _ Infectious diseases
This webinar is the third in the series, co-convened with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Infectious Diseases Branch. It addressed the impacts of climate change on infectious diseases in California, and efforts underway to address them.
Thursday May 23, 2024 - 10:00am to 11:30am
The webinar recording is available on OEHHA's YouTube channel.
Speakers include:
Andrea Lund, PhD, MPH, Infectious Diseases Branch, CDPH
Climate change and mosquito-borne diseases in California
Rising temperatures and changing patterns of precipitation may affect the distribution of mosquitoes in California and the diseases they transmit. This presentation will review surveillance and response to endemic and travel-associated mosquito-borne diseases in California, discuss how climate change impacts the biology of different mosquito species, and consider the impact of climate change and mosquito-borne diseases on health equity.
Gail Sondermeyer Cooksey, MPH, Epidemiologist, Infectious Diseases Branch, CDPH
Could be Valley fever: The role of climate and environment in the increase and expansion of a fungal respiratory disease in California
Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis), a respiratory disease caused by inhaling spores of the soil-dwelling Coccidioides fungus, is increasing in California, with a potential record year in 2023 (estimated 9280 provisional cases statewide). Valley fever is heavily impacted by climate patterns, particularly drought and precipitation, which can drive high rates, increases, and expansion of disease into more parts of California, particularly impacting some of California’s most vulnerable populations.
Sarah Rutschmann, MPH, Infectious Diseases Branch, CDPH
Legionellosis and climate change
Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhalation of aerosols or water droplets containing Legionella bacteria, has been increasing in California over the last two decades, with a record number of cases reported during 2023. Growth and transmission of Legionella, which proliferate in warm and moist environments, are likely to be directly affected by climate change, due to rising temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events, and associated indirect effects, like changing water usage patterns in response to the threats of climate change.