This article misstated the publication date of a study, commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency, that correlated heavy rainfall with more than half of the nation's outbreaks of waterborne illness. The study was published in 2001, not 1991.
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Risk of Disease Rises With Water Temperatures
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Combined sewer overflows can be eliminated by upgrading sewerage systems, but it is an expensive process.
"Here we are in a wealthy country with a very strong public health infrastructure," said Jonathan Patz, a professor of environmental studies and population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "But we need to realize it's not as strong as we thought it was, and water systems really need tremendous resources for upkeep in the face of climate change."
A report last week by the National Research Council concluded that the EPA's storm-water program needs major overhauls to deal with increasing runoff, including a more integrated permitting system based on watersheds and a focus on land use by growing municipalities. Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for water, said Friday that upgrading combined sewer systems is among the agency's top priorities.
Runoff from agricultural land can also spread waterborne diseases, and rising water temperatures are conducive to the growth of pathogens such as naegleria, an amoeba that enters the nasal passages and leads to often-fatal meningoencephalitis. Warmer waters also trigger blooms of algae and plankton, which themselves can be toxic or can harbor pathogens such as the bacteria that cause cholera, as has happened in Peru and the Bay of Bengal.
Algae blooms are also fostered by nitrogen and phosphorus that are washed into rivers, lakes and the ocean by heavier rainfalls.
Downpours are likely to lead to more seafood contamination as human waste, animal manure, nitrogen and phosphorus make their way to coastal areas.
Epstein said the recent flooding in Texas from Hurricane Ike and the mosquito infestation that followed are one example of climatic conditions that are likely to foster more waterborne disease in coming years, despite efforts by the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It will be the next few years. This is not 20 years away," Epstein said. "It's already occurring. The CDC is gearing up to deal with [it], but at the same time, we need to be focused on the primary driver, which is our unstable climate. We need to do all of the above -- protect, prepare and prevent."
