Across Europe, the rising waters of extreme rainfall events carry more than destruction — they carry disease. A systematic review of 14 studies spanning 2018 to 2025 has traced a continent-wide pattern in which flooding contaminates drinking water, overwhelms sanitation systems, and exposes vulnerable populations to pathogens ranging from Campylobacter to Leptospira. The findings arrive not as a revelation but as a warning: as climate change makes such events routine, the gap between what public health systems know and what they are prepared to face grows more consequential by the season.
Flooding Across Europe Linked to Surge in Waterborne Diseases, Study Finds
Vulnerable populations including older adults, people with disabilities, and those exposed during cleanup work face heightened infection risks from contaminated floodwaters.