Climate-sensitive zoonotic diseases transmissible by companion animals: A scoping review protocol

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325568 June 10, 2025 3 / 8 animals, the meteorological factors associated with each disease, and the anticipated impacts of changing climates on the burden of these diseases is limited. Given the disparate evidence and lack of current or ongoing reviews concerning this topic, based on a preliminary search of MEDLINE (via Ovid) and Open Science Framework, a systematic synthesis is war- ranted. These scoping reviews will synthesize existing knowledge regarding how climate change influences the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases that are transmissible by companion animals. The results will identify knowledge gaps and inform future research to monitor, model, and forecast the incidence of zoonotic diseases in companion animal and human populations. The general aim of these scoping reviews is to map the international evidence of climate-sensitive companion animal zoonotic diseases in cat, dog, and human populations. Because the epidemiology of companion animal zoonotic diseases in these populations differs, separate syntheses are warranted [1]. The current protocol will inform two separate reviews, each focusing on a specific population: one reviewing the available evidence in companion animal populations and another in humans. The objectives are to: 1) identify climate-sensitive companion animal zoonotic diseases, 2) describe associations between meteorological factors and risk of companion animal zoonotic diseases, 3) describe spatiotemporal

trends of companion animal zoonotic diseases, and 4) describe the projected impacts of specified future climate emission scenarios on the risk of companion animal zoonotic diseases. Materials and methods Review questions What companion animal zoonotic diseases are sensitive to climate change? How is climate change expected to influence the epidemiology of these diseases in companion animal and human populations? Population Epidemiologic studies will be included if the species of interest are cats, dogs, and/or humans. Concept The key concepts are companion animal zoonotic diseases, climate sensitivity, meteorological factors, and climate change, which are defined as follows: • Companion animal zoonotic diseases: For this scoping review, zoonotic pathogens and diseases associated with companion animals are restricted to those potentially transmitted between cats or dogs and humans, as identified by Weese and Fulford (2011) [1]. For zoonotic diseases with multiple modes of transmission, of which dogs or cats are suspected sources of disease, studies investigating diseases that involve other transmission routes will be included (e.g., salmonellosis). • Climate sensitivity: A zoonotic pathogen, vector, reservoir, or disease that could be affected by changing climates directly or indirectly and thus are susceptible to changes in their epidemiology [7,21]. • Meteorological factors: “The average or expected weather for a given location and time.” [22]. “Weather is the state of

atmospheric conditions, including temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and extreme events.” [22]. • Climate change: “A long-term shift in average regional weather conditions, typically occurring over several decades or longer.” [22]. Context Primary research articles published in English will be included. The scoping review will maintain an open context without restrictions on geographic location, time, or socio-demographic characteristics.