Climate change could affect occurrences of diseases like bird-flu and Ebola, with environmental factors playing a larger role than previously understood in animal-to-human disease transfer.

Researchers from The University of Queensland and Swansea University have been looking at how different environments provide opportunities for animal-to-human diseases – known as zoonotic diseases – to interact with and infect new host species, including humans.

Dr Nicholas Clark, from UQ’s School of Veterinary Science, said this was a new line of thinking in this area, changing how we understand, and tackle, emerging zoonotic diseases.

“These diseases are caused by pathogens – for example, viruses, bacteria or parasitic worms – that cross from animals to humans, including notorious infections like bird flu, rabies virus and Ebola,” he said.

“In the past, we’ve primarily looked at how many different types of animal species a pathogen infects – widely considered an…