A wave of new disease-carrying bugs may be heading our way

Climate change puts the UK on track to become a holiday destination for heat-happy disease spreaders, writes George Francis Lee

The UK has a migration problem, but it’s not a people one

Checking for ticks rarely enters the mind of the average Brit. It might be during the family camping trip or after an ill-advised shortcut through some tall grass. It is no surprise that our vigilance is lacking: our docile wildlife poses very little risk to our health.

Ask yourself: when did you last cover your legs for a hike, or better yet, bring along a tick remover? And yet recent news of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) highlights that our friendly island is changing, so much so that it might soon make a bushtucker trial seem like a picnic. In fact, a wave of new disease-carrying bugs – fuelled by climate change – may not be far off at all.

Although climate change directly affects conditions like respiratory diseases, one of its greatest health dangers lies in the changing behaviours of animals that can spread disease to humans – everything from birds to mosquitos and, of course, ticks.