Tripling of Cases of Vector-borne Diseases in U.S.

 The CDC’s Vital Signs report in May 2018 revealed that between 2004-2016: a) the number of reported cases of diseases from mosquitoes, ticks and fleas had more than tripled in the U.S.; b) of the 642,000 total cases, 77% of these vector borne diseases were from ticks and 82% of these cases were Lyme disease;  c) diseases from ticks alone more than doubled over this 13 year period  d) seven new tickborne microbes were identified that infect people in the U.S. (e.g., Borrelia miyamotoi, 2 new spotted fever Rickettsiae and a new Ehrlichia species) ;  e) chikungunya and Zika virus transmitted by mosquitoes caused outbreaks in the U.S. for the first time; f) the geographic range of ticks in the U.S. has expanded. The report noted that a single tick can transmit multiple pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites.  The CDC noted that there are 10x more cases in the US of Lyme disease than are actually reported.   The CDC concluded “Vector Borne diseases are a large and growing public health problem……Better control of mosquitoes and  ticks is needed to protect people from these costly and deadly diseases”.  CDC Vital Signs Report here.