Diseases climb up mountains as climate warms

As kala-azar and dengue among others make it to mountain districts, experts call for immediate mitigation measures.

Of the 219 total cases of kala-azar reported in the fiscal year 2020-2021, around 21 were reported from Kalikot, a mountain district. Kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis or black fever, is transmitted through the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly, which in the past would not survive in areas above 650 metres. Detection of kala-azar cases in unfamiliar places like Kalikot, where the elevation ranges from 738 metres to above 4,000 metres, indicates that phlebotomine sandflies are moving up mountains because the earth is warming.