Man-made climate change is increasing tummy bug outbreaks in Europe, resulting in illnesses ranging from cholera to gastroenteritis, scientists reported recently.
Vibrio bacteria, which is normally found growing in warm and tropical waters, now thrives in the Baltic Sea bacteria strains and scientists believe it will multiply as seas warm.
Climate change is driving the growth of a group of water-borne bacteria in northern Europe that can cause illnesses from cholera to gastroenteritis, the Daily Mail reported.
An international team examined sea surface temperature records and satellite data, as well as statistics on Vibrio cases in the Baltic Sea.
Vibrios bacteria can cause various infections in humans, from eating raw or undercooked shellfish or from exposure to seawater.
The researchers found the number and distribution of cases in the Baltic Sea area was strongly linked to peaks in sea surface temperatures.
Each year the temperature rose one degree, the number of vibrio cases rose almost 200 per cent.
“The big apparent increases that we’ve seen in cases during heat wave years... tend to indicate that climate change is indeed driving infections,” study author Craig Baker-Austin from the UK-based Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, said.
