Impact of Climate Change on Animal Production and Expansion of Animal Disease: A Review on Ethiopia Perspective

Abstract

Climate change is a result of the global increase in average air and ocean temperatures, and rising average sea levels. Livestock production and health are significantly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Climate change has direct and indirect impacts on emerging and re-emerging animal diseases and zoonoses since it disrupts natural ecosystems and allows disease-causing pathogens to move into new areas where they may harm wildlife and domestic species, as well as humans. Climate change affects diseases and pest distributions, range prevalence, incidence, and seasonality but the degree of change remains highly uncertain. The occurrence and distribution of vector-borne diseases such as bluetongue, west Nile fever, rift valley fever, African horse sickness, etc. are closely associated with weather patterns and long-term climatic factors strongly influence the incidence of outbreaks. The interaction between animal production and climate change is complex and multi-directional since animal production contributes to climate change; but to the reverse and worse condition, climate change highly affects animal production. Climate change, animal production systems, and animal diseases are strongly linked to each other. But what is worse is that both change in climate and the production systems of animals highly affect the occurrence, distribution, emergence, and re-emergence of animal diseases. The close linkage among climate change, animal production, and disease; the increased threat of climate on the animal production and health sectors needs: the hands of stakeholders in the environment, animal production and health to work in an integrated and systematic manner; researches with emphasis given to the state of climate change and the direct and indirect effects it poses on animal production and health; and ensuring development of sustainable animal farming and land use, and climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.