Extreme Weather Events and Epidemics

Extreme weather events have a great impact on public health and society. Climatic conditions influence the range of infectious disease while weather affects the timing and intensity of outbreaks. A long term warmimg trend encourages geographic expansion of several infectious diseases, while extreme weather events lead to clusters of disease outbreaks and sometimes surprises (Epstein, 2001). For example, the 2007 floods in Johor caused 2000 cases of diarrhoea, which commonly occurs when people are exposed to contaminated water.
However, the outbreak of a seldom heard disease called 'Leptospirosis', a disease spread through rat urine, resulting in one death, was a surprise.

Over the past decade, droughts are becoming longer while intense precipation is more frequent. Large-scale weather patterns have shifted. Warming of the land surface, for example, has apparently intensified teh monsoons which are strongly associated with mosquito and water-borne diseases in tropical contries.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least 30 diseases have emerged or resurged since 1975.