Climate change and zoonotic spillover: ecological mechanisms driving disease emergence and the role of one health

The 21st century, which marked an era of technological and globalization boom, also bore witness to increasing emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases so far. Growing scientific evidence identifies climate change as an important indirect driver of zoonotic disease emergence through its influence on biodiversity, wildlife distribution, vector ecology, and human–animal interactions (Carlson et al., 2022; Walters et al., 2022). Also working simultaneously are anthropogenic activities such as deforestation, agricultural expansion, urbanization, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity loss, which further amplify the risk of pathogen spillover by increasing ecological overlap among wildlife, livestock, and human populations (WHO et al., 2022; Borham et al., 2025).