Tick-borne diseases and mosquito-borne diseases, which are part of the wider vector-borne diseases range (conditions transmitted by insects, including Lyme
Disease, Zika Virus, and so on), are on the rise in the US, according to the latest CDC statistics. The officials claim that between 2004 and 2016 the vector-borne diseases tripled in the US, reaching to 640,000 per year.
During the period between 2004 and 2016, not less than 9 vector-borne diseases were recorded, for the first time ever, in the US. Among these, there are Bourbon virus, Zika, Heartland virus, and Chikungunya.
Worldwide, according to WHO’s statistics, the pathogens transmitted by insect kill about 700,000, each year.
Mosquito-borne diseases are the best-known vector-borne diseases but other vectors are ticks, flies, fleas, and some freshwater snails. In fact, tick-borne diseases are the most widespread and dangerous.
Tick-borne diseases in the US account for 75% of all insect-borne diseases, while mosquito-borne diseases soared up due to the Zika situation of 2016
Tick-borne diseases, which represents over 75% of all vector-borne disease cases documented between 2004 and 2016, soared up by more than 100%, rising from about 23,000 cases in 2004 to approximately 49,000 cases in 2016, and, according to researchers, is continuously increasing in incidence since then.
Lyme disease is the most common among all the tick-borne diseases and represents 80% of all the diseases transmitted by ticks.
The Lyme disease is an infectious disease that is transmitted through the bite of ticks and is caused by the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacterium. The illness will develop quickly, within a couple of days, and presents symptoms such as a red circular rash, flu-like symptoms, lack of energy, headaches, and muscle and joint pain.
Lyme disease is often treatable with antibiotics.
On the other hand, mosquito-borne diseases soared up astronomically due to the Zika virus situation in 2016. Accordingly, mosquito-borne diseases in the US went up from about 5,000 cases in 2004 to almost 48,000 in 2016.
The rise in tick-borne diseases and mosquito-borne diseases in the US could be in part due to the fact that more and more people now live in wooded environments and near lakes. However, the CDC states that the habitat of the ticks and mosquitos has steadily expanded in the last 2 decades.
