Infectious Disease Research—What Role Is There for Hydrologists?

Abstract

Numerous virulent and widespread diseases are related to water. The transmission and outbreak of water-related diseases are closely coupled to their hydrological environment. Changes in this environment and the associated hydrological processes may affect the occurrence and virulence of water-related diseases. Environmental changes can be manifold, including e.g. climate and land use, agricultural management or urbanization. Water fluxes and storages play a dominant role in describing disease outbreak, transmission and transport. New land cover types often alter landscape scale water storages. If the effects of changes could be better understood, predictions about the distribution, emergence or outbreak of water-related diseases would be possible. Furthermore, the collaboration of experts from different disciplines is essential for accurate spatial and temporal prediction of water-related disease outbreaks. Here we review the current state of knowledge of water-related diseases and present a general classification of these diseases, followed by a discussion of their major drivers. This review focuses particularly on hydrologists and how they can contribute with their understanding of hydrological processes.