ASM and AGU identify research priorities to close the gap between climate data and infectious disease preparedness
The American Academy of Microbiology, the honorific leadership group and scientific think tank within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) released a new report examining how climate change is reshaping the infectious disease landscape and what’s needed to strengthen global health preparedness in response.
Changing patterns of temperature and precipitation, along with sea level rise and more extreme weather events, are impacting the ecology, evolution, distribution and prevalence of infectious disease reservoirs, hosts, vectors and pathogens. As a result, new diseases are emerging, and others are reappearing in regions where they were once uncommon.
The report was developed by leading scientists and informed by expert discussions at an October 2025 colloquium organized by ASM and AGU, with support from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. It identifies priority research areas to strengthen infectious disease attribution science and outlines steps to build rapid, resilient public health response systems, with an emphasis on cross-sector and global collaboration.
Despite a growing body of evidence linking climate change to infectious disease burden, the report identifies a need for research that moves beyond correlation. The authors call for expanded detection and attribution studies to better quantify how specific climate shifts drive health outcomes, and to translate those findings into actionable public health guidance.
“Climate change is moving infectious disease risks into new areas, often faster than health systems can respond,” said Jay Lennon, Ph.D., Co-Chair of the Colloquium Steering Committee and Chair of the Academy Climate Change Task Force. “Better detection and attribution science will give us the tools to anticipate where risks are heading and how public health systems should prepare.”
“This report is a call to the scientific community to work across disciplines and across borders,” said Madeleine Thomson, Ph.D., Colloquium Steering Committee member and Head of Climate Impacts and Adaptation at Wellcome Trust. “Microbiologists, climate scientists, epidemiologists and data modelers all have a role to play. When we combine those perspectives, we can build surveillance systems that are faster, more predictive and better equipped to protect communities worldwide.”
This is the sixth and final report from the Academy’s Climate Change & Microbes Scientific Portfolio, a 5-year initiative to advance microbial science in support of climate policy and global market innovations. It follows a 2025 ASM–AGU report on reducing waterborne infections amid climate-driven disruptions to water systems. ASM’s Applied and Environmental Microbiology (AEM) Scientific Unit will continue to build on the portfolio’s findings, translating microbial discoveries into solutions that advance climate resilience. The Academy will also announce its next scientific portfolio this summer.
Report:
‘Role of Climate Change on Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases: From Attribution to Action in Global Health Preparedness’, Report on an American Academy of Microbiology Colloquium held on Oct. 9 and 10, 2025. Washington (D.C.), American Society for Microbiology (2026)
Article Source:
Press Release/Material by Joanna Urban | American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
Featured image: Environmental outcomes of climate change, potential climate-regulated mechanisms effects that can promote EID outbreaks, and measures that can be taken to prevent or limit EID transmission events. (Figure created with Biorender.com). Credit: Liao et al. (2024) | DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2356143 | Emerging Microbes & Infections | CC BY
