Next week in New York, world leaders are expected to make commitments at the United Nations General Assembly on health and climate — two big issues that are closely intertwined.
Those connections became apparent in Pakistan’s massive floods worsened by climate change that fueled not just the country’s largest cholera outbreak, but also Malawi's worst cholera outbreak in history.
A group of researchers found strong evidence that links the two: The new cholera strain that circulated in Pakistan during the floods was the same one that caused the deadly outbreak in Malawi, killing over 1,760 people. It potentially reached Malawi via air travel. Someone from Pakistan already infected with the bacteria could have brought it to the country.