Climate Change, Ecosystem Loss, and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Nigeria
Taiwo Bakare-Abidola *
Department of Environmental Science, Georgia Southern University, Georgia, USA.
Aluna Elizabeth Ese
Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, College of Environmental Resources Management, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Victoria Abiodun
Department of Business Administration, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Elekwa Phillip
Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Olayemi Alice Oguntunde
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Türkiye.
Abdulsamad Afolarin Ahmed
Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria.
Demilade Vincent
Social Welfare, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.
Victoria Ifeyinwa Uwakwe
Department of Biology, Bemidji State University, Minnesota 56601, USA.
Mayowa Olasupo
Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Goodness Promise Ibiebara
Department of Nursing Science, Faculty of Applied Science, Edo State University Iyahmo, Edo, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Climate change and ecosystem degradation can affect infectious-disease hazards, human exposure and the recognition of outbreaks, but the direction and strength of those influences differ among pathogens. Nigeria provides a pertinent setting because reservoir-associated infections, mosquito-borne diseases, waterborne outbreaks and climatically sensitive respiratory infections occur across contrasting ecological zones and unequal healthcare environments. This critical narrative review evaluates literature on climatic variability, land-use change, biodiversity, transmission ecology and disease surveillance, giving priority to Nigerian empirical work and using regional or global studies to clarify mechanisms rather than substitute for local evidence. The strongest environment-linked Nigerian analyses concern Lassa fever, whose geographical incidence correlates with climate, land use and socioeconomic factors, although retrospective prediction does not establish prospective forecast utility. Rodent field studies show that seasonal host abundance and viral detection do not necessarily move together. Dengue investigations identify under-recognised febrile illness and competent mosquito habitats, but antibody, vector and molecular results have different inferential meanings. Yellow fever patterns are inseparable from immunity and surveillance selection. For cholera, floods and climatic anomalies interact with water-system failures, displacement and sanitation disadvantage; direct attribution to ecosystem loss remains limited. Meningitis and mpox further illustrate the danger of extending one ecological mechanism across fundamentally different transmission systems. Persistent limitations include spatial aggregation, incomplete diagnostic denominators, heterogeneous environmental measurements and scarce longitudinal linkage of ecosystem disturbance, infected hosts and confirmed human infection. The synthesis argues for pathogen-specific One Health monitoring, prospective ecological–clinical cohorts, out-of-sample validation of warnings and controlled evaluation of water, vector and household interventions. Climate adaptation and ecosystem protection offer important opportunities, but infectious-disease benefits should be demonstrated rather than presumed.
Keywords: One health, Lassa fever, environmental epidemiology, land-use change, rodent reservoirs, arboviruses, cholera, climate adaptation