Which feature best describes how climate change affects One Health surveillance?

• A. It alters the distribution of vectors and pathogens, necessitating integrated surveillance and cross-sector planning.
• B. It only affects agriculture and has no health impact.
• C. It eliminates the need for cross-sector collaboration.
• D. It only impacts human health with no ecological effects.

Answer: (A)

Climate change shifts where disease vectors and pathogens can thrive, so One Health surveillance must bring together data from humans, animals, and the environment across sectors. Warmer temperatures, altered rainfall, and more extreme weather change vector life cycles, range, and the timing of outbreaks. Regions that were once low risk for certain diseases can become hotspots, and spillover risks at human–animal interfaces increase. To detect and respond effectively, surveillance needs integrated data streams and coordinated planning among public health, veterinary, wildlife, and environmental sectors. That interconnected approach is what makes this feature the best description.

Other options fall short because they ignore the interconnected health and ecological dynamics. Climate change does not affect only agriculture or only humans; it reshapes ecological systems that drive health threats. It does not eliminate the need for cross-sector collaboration; in fact, it heightens it. And it does not impact only humans with no ecological effects—ecological changes underpin shifts in disease risk and transmission.