Helminthiases affect more than one billion people worldwide and remain tightly linked to environmental conditions, yet they are often underrepresented in discussions of climate-sensitive infectious diseases. As global temperatures rise and ecosystems shift, the life cycles, geographic distributions, and transmission dynamics of parasitic helminths are being reshaped in complex and sometimes contrasting ways. Here, we argue that helminthiases should be understood as ecological outcomes emerging from interactions among climatic drivers, environmental conditions, microbial communities, and host populations, rather than as the result of isolated environmental shifts. Drawing on examples from schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, and angiostrongyliasis, as well as climate-sensitive helminths affecting animal populations, we examine how climate change can alter parasite development, host ecology, and environmental persistence. We further highlight the role of microbial communities as mediators of transmission. Finally, we discuss how integrating environmental monitoring, microbiological data, and predictive modeling within a One Health framework can support more adaptive and anticipatory surveillance and control strategies.
BT - mSphere DA - 05/2026 DO - 10.1128/msphere.00265-26 LA - ENG M3 - Article N2 -Helminthiases affect more than one billion people worldwide and remain tightly linked to environmental conditions, yet they are often underrepresented in discussions of climate-sensitive infectious diseases. As global temperatures rise and ecosystems shift, the life cycles, geographic distributions, and transmission dynamics of parasitic helminths are being reshaped in complex and sometimes contrasting ways. Here, we argue that helminthiases should be understood as ecological outcomes emerging from interactions among climatic drivers, environmental conditions, microbial communities, and host populations, rather than as the result of isolated environmental shifts. Drawing on examples from schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, and angiostrongyliasis, as well as climate-sensitive helminths affecting animal populations, we examine how climate change can alter parasite development, host ecology, and environmental persistence. We further highlight the role of microbial communities as mediators of transmission. Finally, we discuss how integrating environmental monitoring, microbiological data, and predictive modeling within a One Health framework can support more adaptive and anticipatory surveillance and control strategies.
PB - American Society for Microbiology PY - 2026 SP - 1 EP - 8 T2 - mSphere TI - Climate change and the emerging ecology of helminthiases: a One Health perspective integrating microbial and environmental drivers UR - https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/msphere.00265-26 SN - 2379-5042 ER -