Influence of environmental, anthropogenic, and climatic changes on vector-borne disease transmission: a comprehensive framework and critical review

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases worldwide, causing hundreds of millions of infections and over 700,000 deaths each year. The distribution, intensity, and seasonality of these diseases are profoundly shaped by the interplay of climatic, environmental, and human-driven forces. This manuscript presents a comprehensive, evidence-based framework that integrates three major axes of change: (1) climatic variables—including rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, extreme weather events, and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles; (2) human transformations—encompassing deforestation, agricultural expansion, dam construction, urbanization, globalization, and human mobility; and (3) ecological and environmental disturbances—such as biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species introductions. Drawing on key findings from literature spanning foundational studies to the most recent publications (up to early 2026), this review examines how these drivers interact to reshape vector competence, pathogen transmission dynamics, and the geographic range of mosquito-, tick-, sandfly-, and other arthropod-borne pathogens — including malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, West Nile virus, Lyme disease, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease — with particular emphasis on diseases for which robust quantitative evidence exists, while also summarizing the state of knowledge for less studied VBDs. The manuscript further discusses surveillance frameworks, modeling approaches, and integrated One Health adaptation strategies needed to address the growing global burden of VBDs in the context of accelerating planetary change.