Academic Medicine Open Forum

Scientific studies estimate that 60 to 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals. Forcing animals into new habitats means the viruses they carry—like Zika, yellow fever, and SARS/COVID—move with them. A recent study mapped changes in bat habitat in the Yunnan Province of China and nearby Myanmar and Laos. As climate change warmed the region and affected vegetation, 40 bat species moved in, bringing with them 100 new types of coronavirus.

If you are interested in learning more about these converging crisis, we offer some resources below:

• The Lancet publishes an annual collection of resources in its “Countdown on health and climate change.” 

The AAMC has, for the past several years, provided a forum for scholarship and discussion on the health consequences of climate change:

• “Preparing Physicians to Address the Health Consequences of Climate Change”
• “Climate change in the curriculum”
• “The rising health threats of a hot planet”
• “Hospitals race to save patients — and the planet”
• “Physicians and public health leaders turn up the heat on addressing climate change”

If you are aware of other useful resources in this area, please share with your peers here on this community platform.

------------------------------
Patrick Boyle
Staff Writer
Association of American Medical Colleges
------------------------------