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Pest Management Priducts Division of CSPA
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Human Health Impact
Global commerce, travel, population and climate changes are making parasitic diseases-including mosquito-borne diseases-an emerging or re-emerging public health threat, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC believes that available reports seriously underestimate the true incidence of mosquito-borne diseases because of under funding of state vector control programs and failure to diagnose some diseases. The following is what are reported about mosquito-caused illnesses.
West Nile Virus - A flavivirus that is spread by the bit of an infected mosquito and can affect people, horses, many types of birds and some other animals. The virus has been present for years in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East. It was first detected in the United States in 1999, but has been spreading rapidly since that time. Experts believe that West Nile Virus is now established as a seasonal epidemic in North America that flares up in summer and continues into the fall.
West Nile Virus is a potentially serious, even fatal, illness. Most people who become infected with the disease will have only mild symptoms or none at all. However, on rare occasions, West Nile virus infection can result in a severe and sometimes fatal illness known as West Nile encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain). The risk of severe disease is higher for persons 50 years of age and older. There is no evidence to suggest that West Nile virus can spread from person to person or from animal to person.
For more information about West Nile Virus, please visit Center for Disease Control (West Nile Virus).
Encephalitis - A virus transmitted to humans by an infected mosquito, encephalitis cannot be treated with antibiotics. It also cannot be transmitted from human to human. The word encephalitis means inflammation of the brain. A general name for this mosquito-transmitted virus is an arbovirus, for ar(thropod) + bo(rne) + virus. Arthropoda is the phylum name for invertebrate organisms that include insects, crustaceans, arachnids and myriapods.
A potentially serious illness of the brain and central nervous system, encephalitis is characterized by seizures, coma, paralysis and permanent neurological damage. Sine 1964, between 150 and 3,000 cases have been reported annually in the U.S., including the St. Louis, LaCrosse, Eastern Equine and Western Equine Encephalitis.
