Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Review with Special Attention to Health Aspects

Abstract

This review work was conducted to explore the likely impacts of climate change on livestock health. Currently, the world is facing a number of challenges, of which climate change is a priority area. Climate change affects livestock health through several pathways involving both direct and indirect effect. The direct effects being most likely pronounced for diseases that are vector- borne, soil associated, water or flood associated, rodent associated, or air temperature/humidity associated and sensitive to climate. Furthermore, Climate change influences the emergence and proliferation of disease hosts or vectors and pathogens and their breeding, development and disease transmission. Consequently, it affects distributions and host–parasite relationships and its assemblages to new areas. Climate factors also influences habitat suitability, distribution, and abundance; intensity and temporal pattern of vector activity. Pathogens and parasites that are sensitive to moist or dry conditions may be affected by changes to precipitation and soil moisture. Higher temperatures resulting from climate change may increase the rate of development of certain pathogens or parasites that have one or more life cycle stages outside their animal host. This may shorten generation times and, possibly, increase the total number of generations per year, leading to higher pathogen/ parasite population sizes. Mammalian cellular immunity can be suppressed following heightened exposure to ultraviolet. In particular, there is depression of the number of T helper 1 lymphocytes, the cells involved in the immune response to intracellular pathogens. Therefore, successful adaptations may be shown as better way of coping with the negative consequences of climate change on livestock health.