Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports rise in diseases transmitted by ticks, fleas and mosquitoes

Federal health officials reported that the number of people who get diseases transmitted by mosquito, tick and flea bites has more than tripled in the United States in recent years, according to the New York Times. Since 2004, at least nine diseases related to mosquitoes, ticks and fleas have been discovered or introduced into the U.S.

Between 2004 and 2016, about 643,000 cases of 16 insect-borne illnesses were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 27,000 were reported in 2004 and that rose to 96,000 that were reported in 2016, according to the New York Times.

The CDC emphasized that it’s increasingly important for everyone to be protected from outdoor pests with bug repellent. According to the New York Times report, new tickborne diseases such as Heartland virus are showing up in the mainland U.S., and even cases of Lyme disease and other established infections are growing. On island territories like Puerto Rico, the threat comes as mosquitoes carry viruses like dengue and Zika.

The New York Times reported that warmer weather is a cause of this surge, according to the lead author of a study published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The author Dr. Lyle R. Petersen did not link the increase to the issue of climate change, but he said many other factors are at work.

Dr. Petersen told the New York Times the increase was probably caused by a few factors, including two related to weather: ticks thriving in regions previously too cold for them and hot spells triggering outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases. Other factors he noted were expanded human travel, suburban reforestation and lack of new vaccines to stop outbreaks.

Click here to read the New York Times’ full report.