Md. health officers: Climate change could create the ‘next pandemic,’ urge local officials to prep now

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the challenges of public health and the transmission of infectious diseases to the forefront of Maryland policy over the last few years. Now, local health officials say that rising temperatures and other symptoms of climate change may usher in the “next pandemic.” At the Maryland Association of Counties winter conference, being held in Cambridge, local health officers urged county officials to proactively prepare for future major outbreaks by mitigating the effects of climate change.