Understanding climate change and zoonotic diseases: canine leishmaniasis as a case study

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease transmitted to animals/humans by sandflies. Temperature, rainfall and humidity can affect sandflies in a variety of ways, with air temperature being the most important factor affecting the metabolism, development, survival and capacity of these vectors. Climate change facilitates the geographical distribution of leishmaniasis vectors, including in Europe (Germany and Belgium). Regions with high climatic suitability will be at risk of the increased occurrence of leishmaniasis, especially if this is combined with high social vulnerability. Collaboration between medical/health practitioners, veterinarians, public health/epidemiology experts and the general public is key to the effective control of Leishmania parasites, with education being a critical aspect to avoid vector exposure. We are developing virtual resources to strengthen the detection/prevention of this disease, available on the e-Parasitology^© website (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/). A virtual clinical case of a pet dog co-infected with Leishmania and Toxocara was tested in final-year veterinary students during their clinical rotation. A total of 68.2% (n=26/160; 2020/21; Complutense University of Madrid, Spain) stated that they had learned to diagnose infections in small animals (4.5% disagreed), and 63.7% stated that they had learned strategies for preventing and treating leishmaniasis in dogs. These resources were introduced into the BSc Environmental Sciences programme at the University of Alcalá (UAH, second-year module of "Environmental Toxicology", 2023/24) to reinforce learning about the impact of climate change on the emergence of zoonotic diseases, including the increase in and spread of sandfly populations due to warming. In a second practical seminar, these UAH students were asked to work in mini-groups to develop a research project/proposal to address a current environmental risk of their choice in six different two-hour sessions. Although preliminary, these resources could be effective in facilitating students to acquire the appropriate skills to detect and prevent infections of important parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis, despite their background in parasitology.