Project "Human and animal health"

This project aims to develop decision-making frameworks for maintaining and promoting the health, well-being and performance of humans and animals in the face of climate change.

Background

The project «Impact of climate change on human and animal health» is part of the programme «Decision Support for Dealing with Climate Change in Switzerland (NCCS-Impacts) » (2022–2026) and aims to generate scientific findings on the impacts of climate change on human and animal health. The findings intend to address existing knowledge gaps and previously identified research needs. They support decision-making processes by key players from politics, administration, the private sector and research, and serve as a basis for developing and implementing measures and strategies.

The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) are jointly leading the project under the One Health approach.

Research questions and outputs

Due to the wide range of topics covered, the project is divided into four modules:

Module 1: Health risks posed by rising temperatures in Switzerland

The results of the project include two new web tools: one web tool displays the spatial distribution of heat intensity in combination with particularly vulnerable population groups in an interactive map. The application was developed for the cities of Basel, Bern and Zurich and can be adapted for other cities. A second web tool allows the estimation of emergency consultations in hospitals during heatwaves, based on data from Bern.

In addition, two reports are available to stakeholders: one report identifies the factors that increase or decrease hospital admissions on very hot days among people receiving home care support. Another report provides projections of future temperature-related mortality for 143 districts in Switzerland – depending on climate scenarios and demographic trends.

Fact sheets are available for both reports, providing clear and structured summaries of the key findings and highlighting recommendations.

Module 1 has been completed. The results and outputs can be found on the dedicated project website at the FOPH: www.nccs-impacts.ch/health (in German).

Module 2: Investigation of the effects of heat on pigs and poultry

Data on barn climate and animal behavior are collected to identify indicators of heat stress and to evaluate effective cooling strategies for mitigating it.

Module 2 is still in progress. The results will be published in autumn 2026.

Module 3: Investigation of climate-related mycotoxin contamination in food

Researchers are investigating how changes in climatic and production conditions affect the risk of fungal growth and mycotoxins in food.

Module 3 is still in progress. The results will be published in autumn 2026.

Module 4: Investigation of tick- and mosquito-borne diseases

This study examines tick- and mosquito-borne diseases. Stakeholders are provided with three reports as well as complementary fact sheets. These cover the current level of knowledge in Switzerland and in ecologically comparable neighbouring regions (scoping review), the current level of knowledge and measures regarding tick- and mosquito-borne diseases in Switzerland (surveys of cantonal authorities and the population of the Canton of Bern), and the future risk of mosquito-borne diseases (model projections).

Module 4 is in still in progress. The results will be available in summer 2026 on the dedicated project website at the FOPH: www.nccs-impacts.ch/health (in German).

Project partners

Centre universitaire de médecine générale et santé publique (Unisanté), (Julien Riou)
Centres for Proper Housing (FSVO), (Antonia Ruckli)
EBP Schweiz AG (Andrea Bianchin, Rahel Renggli)
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), Research group «Climate Change and Health», University of Bern (Ana M. Vicedo-Cabrera)
Veterinary Public Health Institute (VPHI), University of Bern (Gertraud Schüpbach)