| Description: | Environmental conditions, interacting with the biology of disease agents, can exert profound effects. Changes in how land is used affect the distribution of disease carriers, such as rodents or insects, while climate influences their range, and affects the timing and intensity of outbreaks. In this review we examine how our health is influenced by the interplay of social conditions, local environmental factors, and global changes. The discussion focuses primarily on the environment, for--given its scale and pace of change--this sometimes forgotten determinant seems destined to play an ever-increasing role in determining disease patterns in the future.
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