Climate change and adverse weather’s effects on flies and cockroaches may increase risks of pest-borne diseases.
First published: 07 March 2025
RES journal, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, has recently published a review article highlighting the risks of adverse weather events on hygiene-related pests like flies and cockroaches. The review, The impact of adverse weather events on cockroaches and flies, and the possible effects on disease by Alexandra Hiscox et al., also makes recommendations for the mitigation of public health impacts.
Climate change is associated with an increase in adverse weather events such as heatwaves, drought, hurricanes and typhoons, floods and wildfires. These extreme weather events can disrupt public health infrastructure and can be detrimental to hygiene and sanitation practices, leading to knock-on effects on populations of vectors associated with disease transmission. Both the frequency and intensity of climate-related adverse weather events are predicted to increase, likely resulting in changes to the interactions between the transmitting organisms (vectors) and humans, leading to an increased risk of disease transmission.
In their article, the authors address a knowledge-gap, looking in particular at domestic flies and cockroaches, and review these specific vectors’ population biology and behaviour, links with hygiene and sanitation and how pest populations and public health could be affected by adverse weather events.
There is evidence that increased temperatures, extreme rainfall and flooding events are most likely to be associated with increased fly and cockroach populations and changes in the behaviour or activity of these insects, which could exacerbate the risks of disease transmission. Warmer temperatures accelerate their rates of reproduction, while heavy rainfall and flooding disrupt their habitats, driving them indoors. Other factors like habitat destruction, breakdown in healthcare system infrastructure, population displacement and altered pesticide use following an extreme weather event are predicted to influence insect populations and provide opportunities for increased human–pest contact.
“As climate change intensifies extreme weather events, we risk creating the perfect storm for pest-borne diseases. Understanding how flies and cockroaches respond to these disruptions is key to protecting public health in a rapidly changing world.”
– Freya Spencer, corresponding author
The article highlights research gaps and provides recommendations for the improvement of current domestic and professional pest control products and strategies that might be employed to mitigate the impacts of adverse weather events on hygiene-related pests in a changing world.
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