NOAA participates in CDC’s national vector-borne disease strategy development

Vector-borne diseases spread by ticks and mosquitos, such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus, are estimated to affect hundreds of thousands of Americans each year. Impacts of such diseases can include neuroinvasive disease, long-term sequelae, and death. Climate and environmental changes such as warmer temperatures and increased precipitation can enhance transmission of these diseases in many ways, such as creating more habitat for mosquitos and ticks, increasing the amount of time per year that they are actively reproducing and feeding, and increasing the rate at which they reproduce.