As Washington is frying and Johannesburg is freezing, it's hard not to contemplate the effects of extreme weather on the bugs, birds and beasts that bring us many of our most troublesome diseases. As the Chicago SunTimes reminded readers earlier this week, extended periods of hot weather almost inevitably will bring an increase in the incidence of West Nile virus, one of the country's least welcome new immigrants. Turn the heartland into the tropics, and -- voila -- you've got tropical diseases on Lake Shore Drive. Earlier this year, the Washington Post highlighted the same sorts of effects of climate change:
Malaria is climbing the mountains to reach populations in higher elevations in Africa and Latin America. Cholera is growing in warmer seas. Dengue fever and Lyme disease are moving north. West Nile virus, never seen on this continent until seven years ago, has infected more than 21,000 people in the United States and Canada and killed more than 800.
Just one more reminder that, when it comes to health and illness, we're all living in the same world.
