Research Objectives

  A method for assessment of climate change impacts on arthropod vector-borne infectious diseases and waterborne infectious diseases, as well as protozoan and parasitic infectious diseases, is to be established to clarify the impacts of climate change on infectious diseases on a nationwide scale, and assessments of vulnerability and impacts at the local government level will be performed. Moreover, through technological transfers to developing countries in Asia, climate change impacts in Asia will be assessed. The objective of this research is to contribute to the formulation of adaptation policies in Japan, and to promote public understanding of climate change impacts through the dissemination of information.

①Research on assessment of climate change impacts on arthropod vector-borne infectious diseases and adaptation policies, and public dissemination of results
  Investigations of the antibody-positive rates of pigs, an animal in which the Japanese encephalitis virus is amplified, will continue in order to clarify the relationships with not only summer temperatures but also annual temperatures and winter temperatures, as well as the relationships with precipitation and other factors, as indexes.
A method for assessment of climate change impacts on the number of Japanese encephalitis patients will be developed and impact assessments will be carried out. An impact assessment method that can be implemented at the local government level, as well as elsewhere in Asia, will be developed.
  Assessment of climate change impacts on Japanese encephalitis will be advanced jointly with local governments. Moreover, technological transfers to Taiwan and Thailand of the method for assessment of climate change impacts on the number of Japanese encephalitis patients, by which impact assessments will be possible in Asia, will be implemented, and climate change impacts will be clarified.

② Research on impacts of climate change on behavior of vector insects
  The distribution of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which is a vector for infectious diseases, in Tohoku will be further surveyed in detail, and the impacts of climate change will be clarified from the results of surveys up to the present time and the results obtained from the current survey.
  In addition to a spatial distribution survey of vector mosquitoes, a method for assessment of climate change impacts on the densities of mosquitoes will be developed to clarify climate change impacts. Moreover, a method of impact assessment that is also usable by local governments will be developed and technology transfers will be implemented.
  Investigations of climate change impacts in local government areas will be initiated to clarify whether impact assessments at the local government level are possible. Through joint research with local governments, climate change impacts on the colonization of newly invaded areas and expansion of spatial distribution will be elucidated.

③ Research on impacts of climate change on malaria and other parasitic diseases
  The possibility of the revival and spread of tertian malaria in Toyama Prefecture, which has an accumulation of data on the Anopheles malaria-vector mosquito, will be investigated. The relationship between climatic factors and the number of malaria patients in the Solomon Islands will also be analyzed. A model of malaria resurgence in Japan’s Nansei Shoto Islands will be investigated, and adaptation measures will be identified. Moreover, a numerical model will be prepared based on changes in climatic factors and the number of malaria patients in Yunnan Province, China.
  A survey will be conducted to determine the infection rate of Anisakis nematodes in the Sea of Japan. In Fukui and Toyama prefectures, an investigation of the parasitic status and infection rate of Anisakis centering around warm-current fish will be implemented. Climate change impacts related to Anisakis in Asia will be clarified.

④ Research on impacts of climate change on arthropod vector-borne infectious diseases endemic to Asia
  In Taiwan, a survey of the number of dengue patients will be implemented jointly with the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the relationship between temperature conditions and the spatial distributions and densities of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), both of which are vector mosquitoes, will be clarified. Climatic data on the area will also be gathered.
  The number of dengue patients and vector mosquito distribution in Thailand, as well as climatic data on the country, will be gathered jointly with the Thai National Institute of Health (NIH).
  Climate change impacts in Taiwan and Thailand will be clarified. After confirming that impact assessments are possible in those two locations, the assessment method will be expanded to small island states.

⑤ Research on impacts of climate change on waterborne infectious diseases
  An investigation on Vibrio bacteria in the environment using a gene detection method will be initiated. While promoting technology transfers to local governments, technical issues and solutions at the time of practical use will be clarified. The impacts of climatic factors on the distribution of Vibrio will be investigated. Moreover, the relationships of plankton, etc. with Vibrio, as well as the role of climate change in such relationships, will be investigated.

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