Rising temperatures may accelerate spread of Zika virus

Paris

AS Europe and the US brace for the likely arrival of the Zika virus from Latin America this summer, experts warn global warming may accelerate the spread of mosquito-borne disease. Rising temperatures are a threat in more ways than one, they cautioned ahead of a major gathering of Zika researchers in Paris next week.

"Climate change has contributed to the expansion of the range of mosquitoes," said Moritz Kraemer, an infectious diseases specialist at Oxford University.

Mr Kraemer was the lead author of a study mapping the 2015 habitats of two warm-weather species - both of which have gained ground in recent decades - known to infect human…