Infectious diseases in Mediterranean cetaceans: a review with perspectives on climate change and other anthropogenic disruptors

While climate change is an emerging threat to biodiversity worldwide, its effects are particularly amplified in the Mediterranean Sea, making it one of the most vulnerable marine ecosystems globally. Environmental changes, including altered precipitation patterns, rising sea surface temperatures and biochemical changes in seawater, influence both the life-cycle of pathogens and their hosts. This study investigates whether climate change is positively correlated with the emergence of bacterial, viral, fungal and protozoal pathogens, as well as increased disease incidence in Mediterranean cetaceans. Data compiled from published research papers were obtained through stranding records and necropsy investigations in the region, allowing the analysis of spatiotemporal trends in pathogen occurrence, with focus on highly prevalent pathogens, including Cetacean Morbillivirus, Brucella ceti, Herpesvirus and Toxoplasma gondii.