In recent years, climate change has further exacerbated the uncertainty of pathogenic microbial risks, posing a serious threat to human health and the stability of ecosystems. Therefore, understanding the progress and evolution of research hotspots on pathogenic microbes under the climate change is crucial. This article utilizes the Web of Science Core Collection database to perform a bibliometric analysis of research on pathogenic microbes under climate change from 2003 to 2023. The result revealed that over the past twenty years, a total of 9,913 papers were published, with the number of papers published between 2016 and 2023 increasing by 73%, indicating rapid development in this research field. This review analyzes the patterns of pathogenic microbe research under climate change in terms of temporal distribution, national/regional distribution, journal distribution, author distribution, and institutional distribution; through keyword network and knowledge framework analysis, it reveals the main research directions in pathogenic microbe studies from 2003 to 2023; and further demonstrates the evolution of research hotspots and trends under climate change. Our study shows that the United States and China are the major contributing countries in this field, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences being the most active research institution. Keyword analysis indicates that "climate change", "diversity", and "microbial community" are current hot topics in research. Future studies are expected to focus more on the impact of climate change on microbial community structure, activity, and diversity, further exploring the potential risks and mechanisms of pathogenic microbes to the environment and human health. This article providing a theoretical basis for future studies and risk management of pathogenic microbes under climate change.

Climate change; Pathogenic microbes; Bibliometric analysis; Publication trends; Hotspot evolution; Thematic network